Loonatics Unleashed: The Last Thousandth Facade
by bunnyloverforever
Summary: A newcomer joins the team, Cassidy Cat. She's proving to fit in like a glove. New and old foes cross paths with the Loonatics once again. Will they be able to defeat them all and keep their sanity? TechxRev, AcexLexi, and OCxDuck.
1. Cassidy Cat

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed.**

I want to introduce a new character, but I'm constantly contradicting myself on how to do so. I don't want her to be the center of attention because I know I hate having new characters the center of attention when my favorites are the originals, so… somehow I'll maneuver through her introduction to the team. My pairings are: TechxRev, AcexLexi, and possibly OCxDuck or interference with AcexLexi with OC character. I hope you enjoy. I'm going to try my best with this fan fiction. I took down my other one. I'll put it back up once it is fully revised and another chapter is added to it. Sorry, I think there's a lot of text in this chapter! R&R!

Chapter 1: Cassidy Cat

"What's Zadavia keeping us for? Some of us have _plans_ to do this evening!" Duck roared aloud in the middle of the intense silence stilled at the table, where everyone was awaiting for Zadavia's hologram to show up any moment now. Duck on the other hand, was obviously not like everyone else. He had a mouth and he enjoyed using it most of the time, and other times, he simply couldn't help, but speak his own opinionated mind. The mallard crossed his arms tightly and received the customary glowers from their team leader, Ace. Duck wondered if there would be a day that Ace's facial expression would ever loosen entirely. It seemed as though he was always using that original fierce look to quiet anyone or to put anyone back in line. Duck had to admit though, it worked each time.

The rest of the team turned their heads in Duck's direction and the mallard lowered his head, but he could feel his face being trampled by their ogles. Although everyone was waiting around the table without defiance, Duck was the only one that actually spoke what everyone else was thinking. He had the idiocy to actually say them in an abrupt way. The rest of the team kept their manners. Ace looked to his side and glanced at the empty seat behind him, the seventh seat. The rabbit made a fleeting look at everyone else at the table and recognized everyone was there; except for their supposed seventh teammate that did not occupy the vacant seat at his right. The empty seat, the extra uniform, and the available room had been at the tower since they moved in. Ace had questioned Zadavia once about whom and when their seventh member would come along and the rabbit got the same response.

_'In time, Ace, she will come when the time is right and she will be a great asset to your team.'_

A fortune cookie answer that he should have expected. They all knew that it would be another female. This excited Duck whenever the subject was brought up and it also gave Lexi hope that she would share thoughts and feelings with another female. Of course, he knew that Tech, Rev, and Slam would also welcome the new teammate with open arms. Why not? Ace secretly thought that another female would really help Tech break out of his shell and perhaps kick in some moves. Ace's ears drooped and he eventually slumped back in his chair improperly. The rest of the team looked at him and then realized that it was all right to start complaining about Zadavia's absence since even their leader was growing tiresome over the wait.

"What do you think she's doing?" Lexi inquired the entire table. She glanced around and quickly studied the expression each one of her friends gave. It didn't answer her question, but only confirmed that no one had a clue and no one was apparently enjoying the wait, or looking forward to wait any longer.

Rev sighed and stole a gander at Tech, who was brainstorming ideas of a new invention. The road runner wished he could help him, but he knew he never did when he was brainstorming and Tech rarely ever needed to bounce ideas off of him. Duck held his head up by the palm of his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the table. This was getting irksome and he didn't know how much longer he could go without crying out another rude comment that only proved true. Slam was evidently getting hungrier and hungrier by each minute. Lexi believed that if something was taking this long then it _had_ to be something very significant. At this moment, Ace thought there was no absolutely no worth in the wait; probably just a test of patience.

Just as soon as everyone had lost their hopes of getting their evenings to themselves, Zadavia's hologram appeared. Everyone had jumped up slightly in their chairs, straightening their posture and correcting their composure. As if none of them had been slouching or were bored to tears. Zadavia knew that she had kept the Loonatics waiting, but in fact, it was for a good cause. Today would be the day that Ace thought would never come. Zadavia would fully explain the nonattendance of the seventh member of the Loonatics. There was a pause and Duck was ready to bombard Zadavia with the question that was burning relentlessly in everyone's mind.

"What took you so long? We've all been peeing ourselves! None of us have moved from our seats for over an hour now!" Duck irately exclaimed. His fist slammed down into the table and he anticipated an answer. His brows were slanted and his eyes showed no respect of their adviser. Ace was ready to either, apologize to Zadavia for Duck's rude behavior, or go over and give a nice smack to the insensitive mallard. The rest of the Loonatics expected that sort of reaction from the incensed mallard.

"You're right, Duck. I have kept you all waiting for far too long. Please accept my sincerest apology. Although, it is not entirely my fault, please understand, your newest member should appear any moment now," Zadavia kept the same anonymous look in her ogles. Everyone's eyes widened at her last comment.

Appear? How was that possible? The tower was kept under Tech's high security and you needed to have an ID on you to enter and exit through the tower at all times. Did Zadavia know what she was talking about? It wasn't possible. And who was the seventh member, anyways? Ace was the only one who decided to request the vital information.

"Who is this new seventh member? What is _she_ like? What are her powers?" Ace knew he was asking one too many questions than Zadavia liked and it didn't look like she would be answering them. For some reason, it looked as though Zadavia was waiting for something to happen.

Rev and Tech exchanged quizzical glances. Tech strongly believed that there was no possible way to enter the tower. How would their new member be able to enter through the tower without being caught? Perhaps it was a super power, like how Duck's Quantum Quack can bypass any security measures to an extent. Lexi's ears stuck up more than usual. She concentrated to the noises they were detecting- slippers; heels smacking against the rubber of slippers from a distance. Eventually she noticed that everyone else could also hear the clicking of footsteps, but no one could see anything. Each person then jumped out of their seats and turned their heads in the direction of the footsteps that were only coming closer.

"Zadavia, out," and the hologram disappeared as fast as it appeared, surprising the Loonatics; so much for an explanation. Ace figured that they would get all of their answers from their unwelcomed intruder.

Few heads turned back to see Zadavia disappear, but others stayed on the audible foot steps coming their way. The footsteps noticeably changed from a well-paced rhythm to a speedier one, and then a thud was heard. It seemed as though their seventh member held the power of invisibility. It was also apparent that she had tripped over herself because their floors were spotless. A high pitched groan could be heard from the ground, but again, nothing was seen.

"Hey! Enough games! Show yourself, new member!" Duck shouted crossly at seemingly no one. There was surely someone in the room with them, everyone agreed on that. There was no response and it didn't look like anyone was going to do anything about it. Duck released a huff and then fiery orbs appeared in his hands. "If no one's going to do a darn thing about this nuisance, then I will!" Duck aimlessly threw his first attack and it clearly missed, hitting the near by wall. The mallard was already put in a predominantly bad mood cause by the excessive wait he _had_ to endure. He had much more luck with his second since it nabbed their seventh member right on her torso. The orange juice could be seen ostensibly splattered over an invisible wall, but it was a body, nonetheless.

"Rev, there _is_ someone in here, right?" Tech stepped back to stand in front of his lab assistant as he made his inquiry. The coyote's hands were glowing a lime green, ready to fight off the intruder or protect his roadrunner pal.

"Oh! There-is-someone-here-just-several-yards-ahead-of-ya-Tech!" Rev moved next to Tech and then looked back at their leader. The male carried no fears or worries. Surely their new member wouldn't want to attack them. And if she did then Zadavia would have told them about her anger issues. A bright smile made its way on Rev's beak. He felt a tinge of warmth surround his heart as he saw that Tech wanted to protect him in any case. Tech lowered his hands when he saw the soft look Ace gave the two of them. Fighting would not be needed.

"Hey, hey, that's orange juice you just threw at me! What for? I didn't do anything wrong! That was pretty mean!" The unusually high pitched voice began and then her figure soon became visible to the naked eye, not only to Rev's global positioning. Her hands were over her face, wiping away the orange juice from her features.

Her figure was extraordinarily petite and her height, much like Lexi's. Duck immediately lowered his hands as his eyes fully scanned the appearance of their seventh member. His mouth hung open as his eyes went gaga. Their seventh member was a cat-like being. Her fur was that of a recessive, orange coat. Her cat ears were where human ears would be found and her flat, abnormally light pink, hair reached to her mid back. Her bangs ended just above her bright blue eyes with visible split ends. She was clothed in a trouble-free, yellow, sundress with matching slippers. Now her sundress was stained with an orange color from Duck's orange juice.

Ace raised a questioning brow. Did she voluntarily become visible or was it the impact of the orange juice that caused her to turn visible? The rabbit sure did have plenty of inquiries about her powers, but he decided to let her introduce herself before he began to bombard another person with inquiries. He wanted to make a good impression on the newcomer. Tech and Rev exchanged another look of query. The two them also decided that it was best to wait for the feline to introduce herself. Lexi gasped as she laid her eyes on the new member. She was pretty! Her hair was beautiful as well. They could both share products and stylish tips with each other. Lexi desired to know her sense of clothing. The yellow sundress looked as though it could fit her perfectly as well. Lexi instantaneously rushed herself to the newcomer and shook both of her hands.

Duck took a step back and glanced at Ace. His leader only gave him an 'I-knew-you-would-regret-what-you-just-did look.' Ace could evidently see that Duck was already developing a love interest to the undeniably cute cat. Then Ace's brows raised as he saw how quickly Lexi was to jump at the intruder. None of them still had an idea as to how she was able to come in the tower. Hopefully this was the member Zadavia was speaking about. Of course, it had to have been. Zadavia wouldn't have disappeared if it wasn't. Perhaps Ace was thinking too much and racing through his thoughts less thorough than he should by the presence of this girl.

"Hey! My name's Lexi! That's Ace, our leader, Duck, Rev, Tech, and… I wonder where Slam went… uh, don't worry! You can't miss him! He's probably in the kitchen getting something to eat. So, what's your name? Where did you come from and how did you get inside here? It's pretty marvelous how you weren't caught trying to get inside the tower," Lexi did exactly what Ace didn't want to do. Lexi contrived her words in a friendly tone and her speech wasn't too fast like Rev's probably would have been. Tech wouldn't know what to say, Duck would be too busy absorbed in himself to try to impress the newcomer, and the cat almost certainly wasn't going to understand a single word Slam tried to pronounce.

The sweet cat looked bewildered at Lexi's sudden informal introduction of the team. She looked around everyone's facial expressions and then returned her stare at Lexi. The rabbit in the pink uniform looked much more pleasant to look at than the questioning and one seductive stare everyone was ogling her. She held her hands behind her back and began to balance herself from her toes, back to her heels, and then repeat. It was a childish habit she grew up with and unconscious about. A polite smile tugged at her lips as she thought of what to say. She didn't want to make a speedy preface and everyone must have tons of questions about her sudden presence in the tower. It was more than likely rude of how she practically broke in their home unannounced. Wait a second, buglers weren't supposed to announce their break-ins! But Cassidy was no bugler… The cat shook her head to rid of the silly thoughts and then stood up straight, still standing no taller than the rabbit in front of her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Lexi!" Cassidy performed a curtsy and bowed her head at her new acquaintance. "My name is Cassidy Cat, but please just call me Cassidy, Cassy, or Cass. I really don't mind any of those nicknames!" The cat found herself getting excited as her voice went to its natural high pitch and her speech perceptibly gained speed. Slightly embarrassed, her orange cheeks bloomed with patches of red. "Um, Zadavia said that now was a good time that I join the Loonatics. I'm not allowed to tell you why I wasn't here earlier…" Cassidy played with the fabric of her loose dress that ended above her knees. Staring glumly down at the ground because of the fact that she wouldn't be able to share her past with her new friends, she persisted on. "I was only able to get inside undetected because I can faze through objects and walls, even people and floors whenever I want to. But I can't turn invisible and faze through objects at the same time. I have another power, but it's pretty weak and almost useless… Zadavia said that I would be able to strengthen it by working alongside you all."

Ace was intrigued by her and he definitely wanted to hear what her third power was. It would have been absolute beast if she could use her invisibility power and the power to faze at the same time. Tech's brows raised when she explained her power. So, that was how she was able to avoid the security. He pondered the thought of creating something that would even detect her fazing powers. A realm of ideas opened in Tech's mind. Rev knew when Tech was thinking, lazing around, and working hard. The roadrunner could candidly see that Tech was thinking immensely and he was very interested in Cassidy. Not in a love interest way, but a way that she could be used to explore science furthermore. Duck was the one that held all ideas of creating a more-than-friends relationship with Cassidy. The mallard gained enough confidence and overloaded his ego enough to introduce himself to the feline. Duck approached the two females, but pushed aside Lexi to face Cassidy and flex his muscles at the same time.

"_Hey_, why don't you say we get outta this circus and go some place more private so you and I can-" Duck was unexpectedly stopped when he felt Ace's hand grab his shoulder and then begin to pull him back. "Hey, hey, what's all this about?" he demanded to know as he tried to struggle from Ace's, and now Tech's, stronghold. Cassidy's head lowered and she stared at her feet as if they were ancient artifacts. No one had really taken that approach when introducing them to her. She didn't know how to react. Lexi crossed her arms in irritation of Duck's selfish actions, but she was glad when he was dragged off by her fellow members. His act was over.

Lexi took back her position and Rev raced over next to her. Now it was his turn to introduce himself. Lexi knew Rev would be particularly appropriate, so she wasn't beaming any looks his way. Cassidy turned her attention up to Rev. Zadavia had given her a short summary of the rest of the Loonatics anyways, but it was remarkable seeing them in action. A smile already formed on her face.

"Hey-Cassidy-you'll-be-a-great-asset-to-the-team-and-I-can't-wait-to-get-to-know-you-better-as-I'm-sure-you-can't-wait-to-know-the-rest-of-us! I-think-you-should-try-to-stay-out-of-Tech's-way-he-may-want-to-use-you-for-experiments…" Rev did as best as he could to whisper his warning to the cat. Lexi giggled at his forewarning, but did find it to be profoundly true. Cassidy raised her brows in worriment about Tech wanting to use her for experiments. She wanted to know what kind of experiments, but it didn't seem too fitting of a question. What mattered most was that Rev was excited and happy to get to know her better, and he was right, just as she wanted to know everybody else well enough.

Ace and Tech were chastising Duck a distance away so that the other group with the newcomer wouldn't be able to hear them. Ace started first, "What are you thinking? You'll scare her off before Slam can get a chance to meet her. I have to ask her a few genuine questions soon," Ace looked at Tech and he could see that he found Duck's attitude more offensive than he did.

"I really need to ask her some questions too and I think I'll do several experiments with her. Plus, I'm going to have to build another motorcycle, new seats for our battle ships, suites, and whatnot." Tech sighed and then glanced back at Ace with a tiresome look in his eyes. "I wish Zadavia could have told us at least a week beforehand that we should be expecting a new member." Tech couldn't begin to think about the amount of work he would have to do to accommodate more of his inventions for seven people and not just six.

The rabbit, coyote, and mallard looked behind themselves to find Lexi and Rev walking off with the newcomer to give her a tour around the tower. That was a good idea. She'll have to get acquainted with the tower quickly incase anything happens. It was mentally stressful for Tech to touch the skin off the subject about how Cassidy was able to get through the tower uncaught and how he could improve his security measures. It didn't seethe Ace as much as it did to Tech. The leader decided that once Cassidy unpacked and was finally alone, he would ask her more vital questions then. Duck began to brood as he sat on the floors. He was particularly disappointed in himself and quite bothered with the fact that Ace and Tech dragged him off. The only thing that was on his mind was vengeance and what on Acmetropolis Cassidy thought about him now. His gloomy eyes met with Tech's troublesome ones and Ace's thoughtful pair.

Yellow Triangle.

"Thank you so much for showing me around, Lexi and Rev!" Cassidy gave another small curtsy to the two of them. Lexi giggled slightly while Rev tilted his head in wonderment. It surprised him that she was acting so proper with the two of them. He wondered if she would always act this proper around all of them. He stuck closely with his opinion that she would loosen up around everybody eventually. It would probably take a little while with Duck though. Rev and Lexi took a step away from Cassidy's new room. The feline shut the door behind her and decided she would unpack her things now after bidding her friends adieu.

It took almost an hour for Cassidy's two new friends to show her all around the tower. It became laborious after a while when they went into so much detail and told witty stories about each room. She felt bad that she could not share the hilarious moments Lexi and Rev told her all about. The cat thought about her secret that could possibly put all of the Loonatics in jeopardy. Zadavia told her that she shouldn't worry about her family issues because they were all in prison and she could join the Loonatics now. Cassidy shook her head and decided to think more about her family dilemmas another time.

The feline placed her bag down on her bed and began to unpack just her clothes and a few other dental products and hygienic materials. After doing so, Cassidy found her baby blue colored uniform that matched the rest of the Loonatics in her closet. Smiling excitingly, she quickly threw off her clothes and jumped into the suit. It fitted her extremely small figure, vague curves, and flat chest. There was even fabric for her tail and ears to fill in to cover her orange fur completely. She was thankful that her pink hair was able to drape over her head.

Going through the last of her things, she stopped when she pulled pictures of her two sisters, and her one eldest brother. She held the picture with the four of them posing together in her hands. If only her siblings weren't so quick to accept absolute fame. '_They were robbed of their souls… I'm going to find a way to get them back! I promise myself!'_ Cassidy felt hot tears quickly overflowing her eyelids and then trailing down her cheeks. She had felt much more emotional before. After all, her only family left was out to kill her and probably the Loonatics as well. What could she tell her new friends about her family?

"Hey, Cassidy…" Ace slowly greeted as he opened the door to her room. The rabbit took several paces into the occupied room seeing that Cassidy wasn't doing anything that needed privacy. "Hey, I just got some curious questions to ask you," he finished and crossed his arms over his chest. He couldn't help, but somewhat scowl at the cat. It would be a little more challenging to look over six others now, instead of the regular five. The leader took a glance around the room. It seemed to be coming along well, matching with Cassidy's colorful personality. Her bed sheets were changed from the boring white to a Barbie pink. The curtains were changed from their original black to her frilled, pink ones. Other things were changed from the new pink rugs on the floor to the stylish pink pillows.

Cassidy immediately dropped her photographs and turned around to face her new leader. Quickly wiping away her tears, she knew the rabbit wouldn't be able to see her reddened face by her suit. Ace suspected that there was probably just something in Cassidy's eyes. The cat's sixth sense could feel the energy Ace was giving off. He was definitely giving off an assertive vibe. It could simply be felt by looking into his hardened eyes. The cat lowered her eyes down to her light blue rimmed shoes that matched her outfit. In the back of her mind, she prayed that Ace wouldn't ask any questions about her family, but it was probably expected. It was too genuine. Cassidy twiddled with her thumbs and continued to face her feet, looking away from Ace. Her new leader was awfully intimidating.

"Look, I'm not here to _interrogate_ you," Ace noticed her passive reaction. It looked as though she was accepting her death sentence when he was only coming to her room to ask a few questions. Cassidy's head popped back up and her eyes widened. Still twiddling with her thumbs, she found herself flickering her tail around behind herself. Ace chuckled somewhat and then continued on. "All right, I'm most curious about your third power. You said it was weak, but a power is a power. You'll never know the fullest extent if you rarely use it because it is _weak_," he wisely explained.

Cassidy nodded her head and then raised her hands in front of herself. Rather than explaining the power to Ace, she figured he could understand once she showed him. "Here!" the feline called out and clear circular spheres surrounded her hands. They held a light blue color, matching her suite and current eyeball color. Vein-like seams decorated the spheres and they were noticeably pulsing. "Well, I can throw these… or…" Cassidy stopped herself and then waved her hands in front of herself. The spheres lost their shape and created a miniscule wall of force in front of her, keeping the vein-like qualities. "Create a force field. I don't like to use it much because they break easily like glass. I can only imagine how helpful they would be if they actually worked half the time," she finished and then blinked her eyes a few times, regaining its white and original blue rim color around her black pupil. The force field disappeared in a few blinks as well.

Ace's eyes widened in amazement at the power. It certainly could be handy if it was much more powerful. He'd have to tell Tech all about this. It gave Ace a few strategies and plans to help Cassidy strengthen the ability. And if it worked, it could save the Loonatics a lot of money on their power bill whenever enemies attacked and it would conserve more energy that could be used on firepower instead. Cassidy would be a great asset to the team and help them in peril whenever all of them were being attacked. Instead of all them having to split up and flee, a force field would be much more practical to use. A smile crept on the rabbit's face and he continued on.

"You're obviously from Acmetropolis… Zadavia has apparently told you not to tell us why you haven't been able to join us when we first formed, correct?" Ace raised a brow at what he had said. He couldn't believe for a moment that Zadavia would want to uphold information from the Loonatics. It seethed him fairly.

Again, Cassidy felt awful and could mentally feel the emotional knife going through her heart. It saddened her greatly that she wouldn't be able to tell her new friends all about herself, her family, and what she's been up to for almost the past two years. It was confirmed that by not telling the Loonatics any of this wouldn't jeopardize their safety whatsoever. Then how bad could it be to tell them anyways? Now Cassidy could not understand Zadavia's reasoning. "That's right, but can I tell _you_ anyways?" Cassidy put emphasize on the 'you' because Ace was the only person she wanted to talk to about this. Since he was the leader, it made more sense to tell him rather than another member, no offense. And he would probably share the information with the rest of the Loonatics. Cassidy did not want to repeat her family story more than once. Just thinking about it was difficult enough.

Ace lowered his brows and thought for a moment. How could he say no to her? It didn't seem right to turn her down even if Zadavia told her not to tell any of them. How could too much information hurt? "Sure, Cassidy," he replied with an assuring smile. The cat took a deep breath and lowered her head again. How could she start off? Should she just summarize the story instead of going through every single grueling detail? If she kept thinking any longer, she'd never even start the story. "I'd like it better if you could talk to me instead of your feet when you're sharing your story," the rabbit gave a funny smile, trying to look as friendly as he could. He did have a good point.

Cassidy quickly raised her head up to look at him straight in the eyes. Now it was just harder to think, but she forced herself to start and tell him everything she'd been burying in herself for the past two years. "It all started when the meteor hit Acmetropolis. My brother and sisters were affected by the meteor hit as well, giving them super powers. My brother is a mad genius now. My sister has the power of flight and super strength. My other sister has three different kinds of visions due to the meteor strike and she can also use the power of force with much more expertise than I can."

Ace saw that Cassidy's eyes slowly rolled over to the corner of the room. At least she was facing him; that was progress. The leader figured that those three could really start some trouble with the Loonatics if they wanted to. Were they in prison? What if her siblings were coincidentally gunning for her sister now that she was in the Loonatics? Was Cassidy simply leading her siblings to them? Now Ace had many trust related questions to ask the feline. He willingly chose to continue to listen to her story. More of his questions would probably be answered.

"A little while afterwards, all of us just started fighting against one another for the dumbest things. We were using our inexperienced powers against each other. I felt bad for it all, so I apologized to my siblings and we all agreed to never use our powers against each other. Shortly after, my brother let greed get the better of him. He also dragged my sisters along with him. I found out about their plans to take over Acmetropolis. Of course, that led to a huge fight. I was not going to agree to take over Acmetropolis and they weren't going to make me. So, I ran off because I was overpowered by my siblings. Zadavia told me she had been observing me from afar. When I was living on my own trying to attend school and make ends meat, she clearly saw that I had powers and offered me a position with the Loonatics." Cassidy paused, knowing she would have to tell exactly what Zadavia told her not to tell the Loonatics next. "My brother and sisters' souls were taken away from them. Now they only act on their deepest and darkest desires on instinct. This happened while they were in prison. I don't know how, but I can only guess that it might have been a guard that did this to them. Even if they were evil… even if they wanted to kill and conquer, they didn't deserve what's happened to them." Without knowing, tears welled up in Cassidy's eyes and stream down her cheeks. Sitting down on the side of her bed, Ace walked over and kneeled down to her height while placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He felt too sorry for her situation to question her any further, once hardened eyes loosened to a sympathetic pair.

"Sorry…" Cassidy whispered, wiping away her tears and lowering her vision down to her lap. Her cat ears and tail drooped.

"Sorry, what for?" Ace's ears straightened up in alarm. He had never met anyone that would apologize for their tears. If she needed to cry hysterically, then he wouldn't mind one bit. Was he that intimidating of a person?

"Uh… sorry, never mind," Cassidy shook head and avoided eye contact with the rabbit. "Well… that is it. I don't know why Zadavia told me not to tell you all. I felt bad for keeping my past away from you guys. I would _never_ want to put the Loonatics in jeopardy. You have to understand… I took in my own siblings. I wouldn't want anything to happen to the Acmetropolis heroes…" Cassidy ogled Ace and then quickly looked back down at her lap again. What was it that got her nervous around him? His energy had even changed significantly, but she couldn't help, but shake the feeling of walking on eggshells when he was present.

Ace stood up to his full height and placed his hands on his waist. "Thank you for sharing your story with me. You didn't have to…" Ace's sad eyes also began to face the floor. Then the rabbit turned around and began to make his way out of the room. Another time he would ask a couple more questions to the feline. Right now he felt that she needed to be alone and take her own time to open up to the rest of the Loonatics. Cassidy had to at least thank Ace for hearing her out and not accusing her of some sort of treason, but little did she know that those were the exact thoughts he concocted in the back of his mind while listening to her.

"Thank you, Ace! I mean, thanks a lot for listening to me. I haven't shared my story with anyone besides Zadavia," Twiddling with her thumbs again; she expected Ace to stop and turn towards her, and probably say something else before he left her room. For some reason, that's all she wanted. She wanted Ace to stop and look at her again. She wanted to catch another glimpse of his forgiving eyes. They looked surreal opposed to his usual glower. Holding her head up, she was determined to look at her new leader in the eyes before he left.

Ace did stop and turn around in the direction of Cassidy. "No problem, any time, Cassy. You can also talk to the rest of the team any time. We'll all be happy to hear you out," he paused and a smile broke out on his face. "By the way, we're having dinner at the pizzeria today. We're leaving around seven or eight. Also, if you don't mind, you should visit Tech's lab. He's got a few things to give to you. Rev will be there. Get cozy, Cassy. You're apart of the team now! Welcome aboard, you're the newest member of our family." Ace gave a bright smile to Cassidy and she returned the expression. It meant a lot coming from Ace than it did coming from Rev or Lexi. It would also mean a lot to know that each member thought the same thing though.

"Thanks again, Ace!" Cassidy thanked him excitedly. She jumped up and her tail began to flicker. The rabbit found it quite amusing how happy Cassidy got so quickly. Ace nodded his head and smiled again. The cat's heart felt warm and knowing that she would be around people that would soon be like family to her felt wondrous. It would never fill the empty void her heart held, but it would come real close.

Ace left the room and made sure he fully closed the door behind him. When he turned around, he faced Rev, Tech, Lexi, Duck, and Slam. The rabbit stopped himself from gasping aloud. His blue eyes widened and for a moment he was a bit embarrassed. Although he hadn't committed any lewd acts, his fellow teammates sure did. A look of complete shock flushed through Ace's expression and now it only demonstrated his disappointment in his teammates. It was ridiculous what they had done. "What _gives_?" he finally inquired of all of them and crossed his arms. He beamed his glares at everyone, including Lexi.

"Sorry… we kind of just… got caught up?" Duck spoke out for the group and gulped hard. There was no excuse for their invasion of privacy. Ace shook his head and sighed depressingly. What could he say to them? They probably heard every single word that was spoken in the room.

Lexi made circles on the carpet with her feet, looking shameful. Tech and Rev lowered their heads to face the ground rather than the disappointment in Ace's eyes. Slam and Duck did the same thing. Ace sighed once more and then walked off down the hallways. _'I think Cassidy will fit right in.'_ Chuckling to himself, he knew he could have imagined Cassidy's reactions with the rest of the Loonatics outside of the room.


	2. Taut Memory

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. **

Thank you for my two reviews! (Probably going to be my only ones) I try. Hopefully the plot will be interesting enough for anyone to keep reading. Constructive criticism or even plot suggestions are greatly welcomed and appreciated. R&R!

Sorry it's taken me a while. My computer caught a virus… twice. By the way, Tech is _not_ a pedophile! The memory scene came out _way_ too long, sorry about that…

Chapter 2: Taut Memory

"Tech-you-haven't-eaten-anything-in-_hours_-so-you-should-go-and-have-some-appetizers-right-now-mister!" Rev tried to order his natural predator to go and have some chips or a snack. It was true, Tech's only hours outside of the lab that day was when they were all waiting for Zadavia to appear before them and give them her urgent message. During that time, Tech was drawing blueprints for another invention. His mind was always at work. Ever since then, he had been at the lab all day and was about to skip out on dinner with the rest of the Loonatics and pull another all-nighter. He wouldn't be able to work if Rev stole his blueprints and made him run around the lab for them…

"Rev! Get back here right now! Let go of those blueprints! You might break something, stop!" Tech was through with Rev's childish antics and juvenile games. It was as if he held the mental capacity of a ten year old at times. The coyote stopped dead in his tracks. He would be damned if he took another step pathetically trying to chase the road runner. It was simple. _He_ would make Rev stop. Tech channeled his levitation abilities. His hands and eyes turned a bright lime green. With a wave of his hands, his powers sought out Rev and easily trapped the roadrunner in the force.

"Hey-hey-hey-hey!" Rev called out and attempted to flap his arms to fly out of the force, but Tech's powers were too strong for him to even move his legs, much less break through the magnetic force by flying. What a day he picked to wear a belt. The road runner floated back in front of Tech. The coyote looked utterly grim. There wasn't a trace of joke in his eyes. Tech blinked and the green glow disappeared in his ogles and his levitation abilities turned off like a light switch. Rev fell on his bust before the coyote, still holding on tightly to the blueprints.

"Okay, let's do this again. Rev, give me my blueprints… _now_!" Tech bent over his roadrunner friend and gave him a threatening look. A low growl could be heard in his throat.

Rev crawled only inches back, but he knew there was no escape. And Tech was getting even closer to him. All he wanted was for Tech to _eat _something. Was that so bad? The look in Tech's face made it seem so. Rev looked shamefully down at the coyote's feet, still reluctant to give him his blueprints back. Tech took a step closer and scowled down the roadrunner with ease. Rev made his decision final. He wasn't going to give Tech back his blueprints until _after_ they had all eaten out at the pizzeria. The roadrunner held his head up and stared up at his best pal with a determined look in his eyes.

"That's-it-Tech-I'm-not-giving-you-the-blueprints-you'll-have-to-fight-me-for-it-because-I'm-not-going-to-" The roadrunner's speech was cut off short when Tech had lost it. He tackled his friend and the two of them started rolling on the ground, one on top of the other. "What-are-you-doing? Are-you-crazy?" Rev kept his taut stronghold on the blueprints as Tech did as well, but he wasn't about to risk ripping his brilliant ideas apart. The look in Tech's eyes over his stupid blueprints began to panic the bird. The coyote was acting as though Rev was taking his newborn child hostage.

"Let go of the _blueprints_, Rev!" Tech finally forced himself on top of the bird and then seated himself on his lower stomach while pinning his wrists down on the floor. He maintained his low growl and the menacing look in his eyes. Rev bit his bottom beak and wondered if this was worth it anymore. His wellbeing was in jeopardy over some blueprints. Even though Tech didn't exercise much and only saw the light, or glum, of Acmetropolis when the team went out on missions, his upper body strength overpowered Rev's with no difficulty. Rev struggled helplessly out of Tech's iron grip, but nothing happened. The bird's face turned worrisome and panicky when he felt Tech putting pressure on his wrists by using some of his levitation powers. Would Tech literally kill for his blueprints?

"Tech, stop! You're hurting me…"

That comment alone made Tech snap out of his own trance-like state. Why was he so angry with Rev's efforts to nourish him? The coyote immediately sat back up and looked regretfully down at the bird, his best friend. Tech glanced at his hands and then the blueprints, and lastly, Rev's tearful eyes. His entire lab wasn't worth nearly as much as Rev's safety and happiness. Even though he never acted or said it was, it was true and perhaps one day Tech would tell the bird this. Only when Rev sincerely told him that the coyote was causing him harm was when Tech realized the degree of madness he was taking this to. The coyote couldn't bring himself to continue to look at Rev's tears or frightened expression. For a fleeting moment Tech couldn't believe that he was the reason for those tears and the cause of Rev's trembling. Tech could feel his own tears begin to well up in his eyes, but he blinked them away as fast as he could. The male felt awful for what he had done. He didn't think that things would end up like this.

Standing up, Tech didn't look back down at Rev as he made his way toward the exit of the lab. The coyote felt much too shameful and embarrassed to even glance at his feathered friend. He wondered what Zadavia or Ace would think of his actions just now. They were absolutely inappropriate and unnecessary. More importantly of all, what did Rev think of him now? Did that jeopardize their friendship in any way at all? The coyote didn't want to think about it any longer. As if fate had decided it, just as Tech was about to exit his lab, Cassidy fazed through the metal doors that could only be activated if the security scanned your ogles. Tech would also have to adjust the security systems now. The coyote wasn't entirely surprised. He did expect Cassidy to drop by any time. His lime green eyes widened a bit and he took a step back. Rev sat up and then turned his head around to see Cassidy facing Tech with brimming smiles.

What horrid timing.

Tech returned Cassidy's happy expression with a glower much like Ace's. He stopped himself before a growl made its way up to his throat. Rev spun around and then jumped up to his feet. He appeared excited as usual and raced to the two of them. Tech couldn't even mock happiness. It did irritate him when Rev was able to bounce back from his extreme low to an extreme high. He only wished he could do the same. The coyote typically fumed on something the whole day, he kept childish grudges from time to time.

"Hey-Cassidy-you're-here-to-talk-to-Tech-right?" Rev guessed and found it quite fascinating that the feline could faze through object just like walking. He wished he had a power like that.

Cassidy loved the excitement Rev gave off. His energy was always friendly and filled with enthusiasm. Out of everyone in the team, she was more like him than anyone else. "Yes, Ace told me to! Hello, Tech! It's nice to meet you!" the feline gave a small curtsy even though she was not in a dress. She was taught to do this almost every time when greeting or introducing herself to someone. Standing up straight again, she held her hands together behind her back. Her tail flickered excitedly, almost wagging like a dog's tail.

Tech raised a brow and slightly tilted his head at her friendly behavior. Why was she so nice? She was just like Rev, minus the occasional annoyance. Tech couldn't help, but express what he was thinking about all the time, whether it was nice or not. It made him feel bad about himself when he thought about it. Maybe it just had something to do with age, but Tech quickly disagreed with himself. Then he promptly remembered that he had a few things to give Cassidy. Only thoughts of the roadrunner clouded his mind though.

"Yes, I know. Come with me and I'll give them to you," Tech turned around and began to make his way to his desk. He expected the feline to follow him. She did after bidding Rev good bye. Tech turned his head back and ogled the look of pure happiness and merriment in Rev's green eyes when he was just looking at how frightened and anxious they were merely minutes ago.

"See-ya-in-a-few-guys! We're-leaving-really-really-really-soon! See-ya-Tech!" Rev raced out of the lab and hurriedly made his way to the living room to find the rest of the Loonatics. Tech was taken aback by Rev's high spirits. Then he sharply turned his head back around, doing his best to rid of the thoughts of that bird in his mind, but it didn't work. It never did. Cassidy then continued to follow Tech. She jogged over to the coyote, making up for lost ground.

"So, what kind of stuff will I use?" the curious cat inquired, now walking at a good pace behind the coyote. She felt awfully short around him even though she stood at a decent height for her extremely young age the Loonatics had yet to find out about.

Tech stopped dead on in his tracks. His lime green eyes widened for a moment. Cassidy absentmindedly walked right into the coyote's back. The cat jumped back and felt humiliated by her actions. But Tech had stopped so suddenly and Cassidy could only guess it was probably something she said. Apprehension travelled through her body and the last thing she wanted to do was get on Tech's bad side, he was her natural predator. And her new supposed friend.

"What do you mean by stuff?" The coyote swiveled around to properly face Cassidy and also glare her down. If there was one thing she would learn about the Loonatics, it would be that they sure didn't use 'stuff.'

"Uh… your weapons… and stuff…" Cassidy wanted to be sure that she meant _his_ things, since they were _his_ inventions. Her vocabulary still wasn't fully developed, still not having her high school diploma. The feline felt as though she had shrunk and Tech was getting taller by each passing second. Narrowing his eyebrows down at her, he finally spoke with a firm tone.

"They're not _stuff_ _or toys_. They're _my_ hand-crafted precision alloy instruments. If there's anything you're going to learn, it's _gonna_ be that." Tech remarked 'if there's anything' because he felt suspicious about Cassidy's age. Sure, she was the same height as Lexi, but she looked a lot more underdeveloped. Not that it really mattered to him, but he suspected that he was working with an adolescent rather than an adult like the rest of the Loonatics were. Was Zadavia recruiting children now to the team? Tech felt like targeting his heated thoughts toward Cassidy rather than his roadrunner buddy that constantly tugged at his mind. The coyote twirled around. The look Cassidy was giving him was the exact same look of innocence, question, fear, and embarrassment that Rev had given to him. What was causing him to lash out at the young girl? If anything, Tech was usually good around children. Of course, Cassidy wasn't exactly a child, nor was she an adult.

"Sorry…" she meekly replied and continued to follow the older male to his desk to find assortments of "hand-crafted precision alloy instruments." The feline soon questioned to herself if everyone else in the team had known Tech's coarse side to himself. Or his particular emotional attachments to his inventions, and they in fact, did know. This would just be one of the many quirks the cat decided she would have to steer away from.

It made the coyote cringe when he heard that simple word of admission of guilt. It sickened him to hear it from anyone at this moment. Did anyone have any sense of security that they didn't have to persistently request for forgiveness? He was enraged. Stopping at his desk, the coyote didn't know how to introduce her to the weapons besides instantly pending her comment to bash her to no avail. "Okay, look…" he paused and turned around to face her with a merciful expression. He felt little guilt to the way he was acting, but not enough to think about acting contrite. Cassidy raised her head and widened her eyes in alarm. Incase he would go into an in-depth analysis of each of the weapons; she wanted to be sure she was all ears. The feline was sadly mistaken.

"Cassidy…" Tech paused out of the blue, saying her name again, but in a whisper. That name, Cassidy, made his mind click in recollection. He remembered six years ago, someone having similar features as Cassidy did without her suite on, roaming through his college campus. The coyote was more than positive that the young cat roaming around his college dormitory was Cassidy. How come he didn't recognize the sundress Cassidy appeared in earlier? How did he not memorize the pink hair? The memory played back in his mind as if it were only yesterday.

* * *

_Tech, about six years younger, back in his college days just starting out as a freshman in the Acmetropolis University sat in his dorm room, contemplating about his studies and the large text book before him on his desk. A delightful scent began to make its way through Tech's dorm, and soon his nostrils. Then the coyote heard light foot steps outside of his dorm and became naturally curious. Tech quickly gathered his thoughts and refocused himself again._

_His attempts at focusing shattered soon afterwards when he heard a knock on his door. That was unusual. There wasn't any room service, and if there was, he wouldn't have used it. Also there was the odd factor that Tech had only been at the institute for several months. He didn't make any colleagues yet. Most importantly of all, there was a neat 'do not disturb' sign hanging on his door knob. All of this thinking and reasoning didn't change the fact that the door had in fact, been lightly knocked on. Tech released a sigh of annoyance. He really didn't want to be bothered right now. The only thing on his mind was on was getting ahead in his studies. _

_The coyote reluctantly stood up and made his agonizing walk to his dorm door. He quickly opened the door and looked straight ahead, not seeing anything at all. Then he heard a few whimpers from below him. Tech lowered his head and then saw the child. The cat was holding a basket of freshly baked cookies. That was the sweet scent that was travelling through his room. Were those cookies for him? From the child? How was that possible when he had never laid eyes on this child before in his life? The kid looked to be at least eight or nine years old. The orange cat with summer pink hair and deep blue eyes; looked up at him with a huge smile. _

"_Hello, Tech _E_… Coy…ote…" The child looked down for a moment to think intently about her pronunciation. It sounded incorrect, Cassidy did her best. "Big brother has told me all about you! He says, he says… he says… you are… pro… missing…" Again, Cassidy figured that her pronunciation was wrong, but unless someone corrected her, she wouldn't know. _

_Tech felt his face burn up as his brows rose in question. Who was this girl's older sibling? Why was she unaccompanied? He kneeled down, still towering over her. A smile formed on his face. It had been a while since he came face to face with a jovial kid. He eyed her basket of baked cookies and thought for a moment if she was the one that had baked the cookies. A slight chuckle escaped his lips and he looked cheerfully and friendlily down at her. _

"_Tech E. Coyote. And your big brother probably meant _promising_." He slowly pronounced his last name and the adjective he guessed her brother used. Tech kindly corrected and scanned the little girl's attire. She wore a pink sundress, just her size. Her summer colored pink hair almost reached to her thin waists. Pink matching slippers finished her simple outfit._

"_The cookies are for _you_, Techie!" Cassidy held out the basket of freshly baked cookies in front of her new acquaintance. Tech blinked and looked down at the basket. That was a lot of cookies. He second guessed the child. Were the cookies truly for him? The coyote couldn't just reject the cookies from a child. Tech gently took the basket out of the cat's hands, which he still did not know the name of. _

"_Hey, kid, do you know where your brother's dorm is? By the way, thanks for the cookies. I'll be enjoying them. They smell delicious!" He had almost forgotten to compliment her. The coyote was much too morally concerned for her welfare and where she belonged. He didn't necessarily want to be found with a child that didn't belong or relate to him. _

"_Nope!" she answered excitedly. "I only remembered your dorm number my brother wrote down somewhere…" she slowly explained, recalling back her memory. Tech found that odd. Her brother had written his dorm room number down to stop by and deliver him cookies? Why? Tech still did not know. _

"_What's your brother's name?" the coyote was sure he could find his dorm room number if he knew the student's name. By the looks of Cassidy, her older brother might be his professor's assistant. Tech stood up to his full height and stepped out into the hallway with Cassidy, closing his door behind him. He glanced at the left, and then right, still not wanting to be found with a practical toddler. _

"_Virgo _Cat_! And I'm… Cassidy Cat!" she exclaimed excitedly and held her arms high up to the coyote, as if wanting something._

_Tech's eyes widened at the name. His thoughts were correct. That was the name of his professor's assistant that instructed his freshmen class from time to time. Virgo Cat was definitely a brilliant scientist, engineer, technician, and many other things, but Tech wouldn't have expected that he was an older brother as well. Tech knew what her arms meant, but he was a bit taken aback by her desire. She was an adorable kid, how could he decline? Smiling down at her, Tech asked her kindly to hold the basket of cookies. Then he knelt down and easily swept Cassidy off her feet. He held her bridal style in his arms. The cat broke out in a fit of giggles when Tech did this. The coyote couldn't help, but also chuckle at himself. Placing her in a more comfortable position, Tech walked down the hallways in attempts to find Virgo's dorm room number. It would be a long walk, no doubt. There were many students who attended this university. _

"_So, Cassidy, how did you part from your brother?" Tech decided to be the adult and start a conversation with the lovable child. A wide grin crept on to his face. _

"_Hmmm…" Cassidy thought to herself, trying to evoke her memory again. "He… he was working on _lessons_! So, when he got out of his room to get something, I went out with the cookies to bring to you! Virgo wanted to send them to you, but I wanted to give them to you myself because it's nicer!" the cat made silly hand movements with her explanation._

_Tech began to make his way up several flights of stairs. It turned out to be more of a challenge when he carried the little girl in his arms with him as well. It was about another thirty to forty pounds. He would definitely be sore in the morning… The coyote returned her chuckle and happy persona. _

"_Well, we're almost to your brother's dorm. Wow, you had to walk some ways to get to my dorm from your brother's, right?" he said with a bit of concern. It also still amazed him that no one spotted the little girl running around in the boys' dormitory. _

"_Yep, I ran, ran, and ran!" Cassidy twiddled with her thumbs and kicked her feet playfully. "Techie! Techie! Techie!" she called out and then laughed at herself. Tech raised a brow, but his smile was still on his face. Maybe when she was a bit older he would correct her, but for now it was unquestionably cute. _

"_You should settle down, it's going to be a while before I get to your brother's dorm. He may not even be in his dorm. He's probably out looking for _you_, missy!" Tech pretended to have on a look of disappointment. His features soon broke out in smiles and glee._

_Cassidy giggled adorably and then yawned. Perhaps all of the excitement and giddy was finally getting to her. The clocks read twelve. It was still early afternoon. It was probable that Cassidy had arrived earlier in the morning with her brother. After just a few minutes of walking through the dormitory hallways, Cassidy was fast asleep in Tech's chest, holding on to his white, unbuttoned, lab coat as if it were a comfort object instead. He found the small insecure action endearing. For a fleeting moment he felt bad about returning Cassidy back to her brother. He would probably never see the small cat again until a very long time. When would be the next time he'd get cookies from a child? Those numbers were very low and not likely anyways. It would be incredibly awkward for a coyote his age to be visiting Cassidy even occasionally. Her brother, Virgo, would probably have no talk about it._

_Stepping in front of the correct dorm room, Tech couldn't use his hands, so he used his feet instead. The coyote kicked the door several times just hard enough to be heard as knocks. From the inside he heard a yelp, the pitch sounding exactly like Professor Virgo. Foot steps came closer until the door finally swung open to reveal the tall, orange furred, cat. His matching orange hair appeared uncombed and ruffled. His lab coat was also unbuttoned, but only revealed his orange coat. The professor's eyes widened in surprise when he saw his little sister sleeping in the arms of the coyote. Of course, he trusted the coyote enough to not snag his sister out of his arms. In fact, she looked comfortable she way she was already. _

"_Where- she delivered the cookies to you, didn't she?" Virgo instantly shot his thoughts to the coyote. His brows rose when he laid eyes on the basket of cookies. The cat would have never expected his younger sister to wonder around the boys' dormitory to deliver the cookies. Tech simply nodded. "Heh… kids… what are you going to do?" Virgo shrugged and then gently took his younger sister in his arms. It took a little force to remove Cassidy's grasp on the coyote's lab coat. _

_The coyote felt bad for parting ways when Cassidy was still asleep. Maybe she could drop by later to his dorm to bid him goodbye. Or maybe he would just never see the innocent child again… Tech sighed depressingly when Virgo gave him the basket of cookies. Virgo was about to close the door when Tech pushed the door open, even surprising himself. Virgo narrowed his brows and gave a threatening glare to the desert animal. _

"_Wait!" Tech finally said, after he had shoved the door open… "What are the cookies for?" he questioned. The coyote knew he should have asked earlier, but it just came to him when he realized that he would probably never see Cassidy again. All he wanted was to at least stay in the child's presence a little while longer. Tech looked timidly at Virgo. The cat was not too happy. _

"_They're for you. You're the best student in the class. The professor told me to do something nice and give you some sort of reward for being top of the class. Cassidy likes to make cookies with her sisters. So, I told them to make a batch of cookies. Congratulations, now you can leave. I have a lot to work to get done. You can come back if you have any questions related to the lessons or class work…" Virgo cocked a brow at the coyote, obviously trying to belittle the genius as much as he could. Tech didn't find his attitude to be very kind, but what could he say or do? _

_It was as if Virgo knew of his desire to bid Cassidy goodbye. To acknowledge them for mortify Tech on the spot. Cassidy touched his heart and she was one of his first interactions with anyone in the campus. It would have been truly sad to admit this, so Tech kept it all in his head. The coyote stared down at his feet in shame._

"_Look… I'll make sure she stops by your dorm at the end of the day," Virgo realized that he was being too hard on the coyote. Cassidy had a friendly persona and Tech never really interacted with anyone unless he was forced to. Cassidy was a social butterfly and made a joke out of everything. He wondered for a moment how the two of them conversed with each other._

_Tech's face lit up, but then he recognized that he had just given his true feelings away. Virgo raised both of his brows and sighed dryly. The coyote appeared apprehensive again. "Thanks, Virgo… err, Professor. Sorry," for some reason, Tech felt the need to apologize. He was being glared down by his professor, he obviously did something wrong then. Rubbing the back of his neck, Tech rested his gaze on Cassidy, whom was still sleeping soundly. _

_Virgo only nodded and then closed his door successfully. Tech sighed and miserably dragged his feet back to his dormitory which was some distance away. There was no need to make all the dormitories so… scattered. The coyote decided he would taste test a cookie. Tech grabbed one of the warm, moist cookies. They looked plenty tasteful to him. Throwing it in his mouth, he let himself enjoy the chocolate-y goodness and the moist of the dough. The cookie put Tech in a better mood as he made his way back to his dorm. _

_* * *_

"_Techie! Techie! Techie! Open the door, please! I'm leaving, leaving, leaving!" Cassidy knocked on the door and said this at the same time. Her high pitched voice was loud enough to be heard over her knocking._

_Tech instantaneously jumped from his chair and raced to his door to swing it open, as if he were waiting for her visit all day long. The night was just beginning, it was about eight thirty, but for Cassidy's age, it was almost bedtime. The coyote's anticipation turned into absolute bliss when he saw Cassidy's small form stand in front of him with her arms reached out over her heads. He knew what that meant._

"_Cassidy! Cassidy! I've missed you! And I'm going to miss you when you leave, leave, leave!" Tech responded excitedly back to the child. He immediately swept the kid off of her feet by under her shoulders. He held her by her bottom to his upper stomach while her legs dangled. The cat happily beamed at the coyote. Tech was almost sure that Virgo wouldn't keep to his word until now. _

"_Techie, Techie, when will I see you again?" Cassidy inquired, injecting a whiny tone in her question. Tech glanced away and thought about what to say. Her question was good. When _will_ they see each other again? Virgo would be graduating soon and then Cassidy would have no business at the university anymore. Tech looked back at Cassidy and gave her an assuring smile._

"_We'll see each other again some time. Maybe it won't be anytime soon, but we will." Tech looked at Virgo, who stood at the end of the hallway, eyeing the clock continuously. _

_Cassidy's face lit up. "Okay! Well, my big brother is waiting and he told me to be quick. I wish I could see you tomorrow and the day after that and after that and after that and after that…" the cat got herself tired and a small yawn escaped her mouth. Tech smiled back at her because he thought the exact same thing._

"_Some day," he corrected. The coyote reluctantly placed Cassidy on her own two feet, feeling the glares Virgo was giving him on his face. "Good night Cassidy, sleep dreams. Better get home so you can go to sleep and go to school tomorrow well rested," Tech knelt down to her height and spoke as if he were a parent. _

_Cassidy nodded her head vigorously. The cat threw her arms around Tech's neck and clung on to him for a few moments. Tech hugged her back and laughed merrily. The cat giggled and jumped off. Now they would part. Cassidy scurried off after staring up longingly and lovingly at the coyote. Tech gave her another look of joy. The cat waved back at Tech until she reached her older brother at the end of the hallway. When they began to make their way into another hallway, Cassidy gave one last smile and one last wave. _

_Tech never saw the child again. _

* * *

The Cassidy standing in front of him right now was the exact same Cassidy he met a little over six years ago at the university. Why didn't he notice before? The cat now gave him a quizzical look. Tech was staring at Cassidy with raised brows and his mouth hung open. The girl had surely grown over the years, but she was still too young in his book to be apart of the Loonatics… did Zadavia know of this?

"Is there something wrong, Tech? You look surprised…" Cassidy felt a bit uncomfortable and then started to face the ground while making circles with her toe.

Tech blinked and straightened up. Now that he knew who Cassidy was, why didn't Cassidy recognized him? He was always in the news with the rest of the Loonatics. The coyote couldn't wait any longer. The desert wolf wrapped his arms around the cat and took in a gasp of air. He couldn't help, but squeeze a bit and examine her hair. It was the _same_. The only thing that changed in Cassidy was practically her height. He didn't find anything else different about her besides the fact she was more proper now.

Cassidy's head popped up. The feline did not expect a hug from Tech. Perhaps he felt ill? "Tech, what's wrong?" she inquired again, a bit more worriedly.

"Cassidy, how can you not remember me? I'm Techie… Techie… you gave me the cookies… I'm Techie," the coyote loosened his grip and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. He watched her reaction. It was a mixture of disbelief and perplexity.

"Techie!" Cassidy yelled out excitedly and then jumped her embrace on the coyote. The coyote almost lost his footing. The male spun around once to quickly regain his balance. He gently peeled her body off of his, but his hands remained on her shoulders. His actions reminded himself of when Rev embraced him before he went on his mandatory two-week vacation...

"You've grown… I had no idea you were… the same child from years ago. I feel awful now for trying to continuously attack you to blow off some steam…" Tech lowered his hands and then rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. Cassidy giggled at her long lost friend. She wouldn't have minded if he had implemented his full intentions. He sure did belittle her already with his piercing comments.

"Hey, beauty and the _beast_, it's time to go," Duck quacked into the lab and appeared before the two of them. They were only looking at each other, but Duck's imagination grew quickly. His brow cocked. He crossed his feathered arms tightly across his chest. The mallard changed out of his usual orange uniform. He had on fitted dark jeans, slippers, his white muscle t-shirt, and open grey jacket. The mallard definitely looked cool with his black shades.

Tech cleared his throat at Duck's 'beast' joke. The coyote did not think of himself as a beast. If anything, Slam was the beast. "Why so informal, Duck?" Tech turned to face his black feathered friend and crossed his arms as well.

"There's no need to be formal. All of the villains are locked up and Zadavia hasn't sent us out on any crazy missions yet. Might as well enjoy showing off my _wardrobe_," Duck flexed his miniscule muscles and posed.

Cassidy giggled while Tech rolled his eyes and released a sigh. "All right, Cassidy, I'll introduce you to the weaponry and some of my hand-crafted precision alloy instruments. Let's get changed to eat out with the rest of the Loonatics," Tech yawned and slowly made his toward the exit of the lab. He wished he could cherish the moment of realization with Cassidy longer, but with Duck near them, it was impossible unless he wanted the mallard to get the wrong idea about their relationship.

"Oh, I'm excited! Thank you, Duck, for telling us! I'll be ready in just a minute!" Cassidy took off sprinting toward the exit of the lab. She fazed through the machinery and then the walls.

Duck's eyes followed Cassidy until she was out of sight. He sharply turned himself toward Tech with narrowed brows. Tech stopped in his tracks and looked back at Duck, concerned. The water creature sent him copious amounts of curious looks before he said anything. "Tech… did you say anything to Rev that would make him particularly upset?" Duck lowered his hands and then loosened his features. A brow simply raised on the bird's face.

"Well… I don't- is Rev upset right now?" Tech was about to explain what he might have done, but changed his mind and decided to ask Duck how the bird was acting.

"A little glum. He claims to be _thinking_. I just suspected you," the mallard shrugged and then chose to not get in between the situation anymore. "It's a bit unusual to not see him flap his beak," Duck turned to walk off. He rolled his eyes and smirks to himself. Although, Tech had something up his sleeve.

"It's not like we don't have a member of the Loonatics who already does plenty of that," the coyote obviously called out the mallard. The bird stopped in his tracks and twirled around to face the super genius with an angered expression and clenched fists.

"_What_? Oh… you're despicable," the mallard firmly said. He narrowed his eye lids as well as his brows. So much for leaving on a good note, for once. Tech smirked triumphantly and shrugged a shoulder.


	3. Massive's Aid

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. **

Thanks so much, Yunno, for reviewing! You're stories are so awesome… I can't believe you're taking time to read mine xD! I never really thought of actually making Cassidy purr in the story... Maybe I will now. Enjoy the chapter! Actually going to be some action… R&R! Criticism is loved! By the way, please don't wonder how they got their jet packs. That's why it's called "FAN FICTION!"

Chapter 3: Massive's Aid

All six of the Loonatics stood before the elevator, eyeing each other and then their leader. They all waited for him to say something relevant so the rest of them could leave. Slam was already at the pizzeria. Lexi dressed in white, cloth-like shorts, slippers, and a matching white spaghetti strap shirt. Ace was in his dark long fitted jeans, sneakers, a yellow and white horizontally striped, unzipped, fleece with a plain white t-shirt under. Rev dressed in a pair of ice jeans, special sneakers to fit his feet, and a grass green, hooded, sweat shirt adorned his torso. Tech's attire was plain and simple. The coyote wore his tanned shorts that reached below his knees, slippers, and a light green t-shirt with a black unzipped jacket over. Cassidy didn't want to wear another sundress since it looked like everyone else was going so casual. She threw on ice jeans that hugged her knees, thighs, and hips. Her upper half consisted of a short sleeved, blue and white horizontal shirt.

"Well, we're all here. Except for Slam, he went ahead. We'll meet him there," Ace felt everyone's eyes on him. The leader took a step toward the elevator and the doors opened. Why was everyone so quiet? Rev seemed a bit glum, Tech looked serious, Lexi looked as though she was in deep thought, Duck as well, and Cassidy was merely content. Was he missing out on anything?

He waited for everyone else to gather inside the elevator before he did. Once the six of them were outside walking toward the downtown center where the pizzeria was, the cliques began to form. Ace found himself leading everyone with Lexi by his side. Duck and Cassidy were only steps behind them and some paces back was where Tech and Rev quietly spoke.

Tech placed a hand on the bird's shoulder to gently tug him back. They two of them fell several more paces behind Duck and Cassidy. That's what Tech wanted to do. Rev released a small whimper, not wanting to deal with the coyote right now. He wanted to simply forget everything that happened in the lab. It was all an accident, right? When the two of them began their slow and steady pace, Tech reluctantly began the conversation. He felt heartbroken when Rev gave him a look of repent. Rev had done nothing wrong and yet he was expecting to get chastised by him. Tech wondered if he always treated Rev this way. The two of them usually had a good time together. The coyote thought to himself about the 'good times.' Were they really good times for Rev or good times for him? A fraction of his inventions were used to tease Rev. And he did enjoy himself whenever he demeaned the roadrunner in front of the others. That was simply wrong and immoral… what made him think that it was suitable to do so in a _friendship_? How could he make up for two years time?

"Rev… I'm sorry," said the super intellectual-genius. He could only think of those three words to start his long list of regret and for what happened at the lab earlier. Tech had no idea what overcame him at the lab. He shouldn't have lashed out at Rev, but he did, and he couldn't take it back. "What happened at the lab earlier… it meant nothing. I overreacted. You can understand that, right?" Tech gave a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. He was never good at apologies. The coyote never had to atone for anything because he never had any friends.

The roadrunner only focused his sight on his sneakers as he walked his slow pace alongside Tech. If he said anything he knew he'd get excited by the thought of Tech showing his contrite towards him, and then he would end up with his beak being shut closed. That's just not what the roadrunner wanted anymore. Rev simply glanced at his friend with a mocked look of acceptance that looked more like guilt. Then the bird lowered his head again and continued to drag along. Tech knew Rev better than any of the other Loonatics. There was something bothering the bird and Tech wanted to get to the bottom of it. Why did he look so guilty? It seemed as though the roadrunner was hiding something. It looked so obvious to Tech. The coyote simply cringed at the thought of Rev still being offended about earlier. For some reason, Tech couldn't gain the confidence to continue to question his friend. What was the point? He'd make up excuses and then eventually break down. The bird should learn to talk when he actually _needed_ to, Tech bitterly thought.

"Do you guys usually go out and eat at the pizzeria?" Cassidy curiously asked aloud, to Ace, Duck, or Lexi.

"Not really, we usually order take-out. Since all of the villains are locked up and it's been a few days without a decent mission, we decided to go out to eat. Plus, it's a special occasion. We've got a new member now!" Lexi smiled at the end of her explanation. Cassidy smiled excitedly back and then turned her head back to see Tech and Rev almost ten paces behind them. Her smile toward Tech soon turned into a frown when he looked back at her with seriousness in his eyes. She quickly turned her head back, feeling embarrassed. The cat started twiddling with her thumbs in habit of insecurity.

"Something the matter, Cass?" Duck asked worriedly in a fragment of a sentence. Duck noticed her widened eyes, bitten lip, and the twiddling of her thumbs. All of the things he would do if he had made a mistake or felt mortified. He felt he could shorten her name since they all knew her and her ugly family background. It's not like he would get disciplined for doing so. It didn't look as though Cassidy could harm a fly. He wondered how the feline fought.

"Oh, I'm fine!" she said in her usual high pitched tone of voice, completely dropping her features from seconds ago to a joyful one. Her hands dropped and she straightened up. It was a bit awkward that she stood taller than the mallard that was clearly older than her. Then she remembered that she would have to break it to Loonatics about her extremely young age and Zadavia's plans for her to finish schooling.

Ace became aware of the distance Tech and Rev left between the four of them. The leader didn't care too much to intervene. From the looks of their faces it seemed like they needed a lot of conversing to do. Alone. Ace appeared grim the entire walk to the pizzeria, but Lexi knew that he was in deep thought. Their leader opened the door to the pizzeria and waited again for everyone to enter before he stepped foot inside. He couldn't help, but glare at Tech as he and Rev entered last. The coyote felt that he had done nothing wrong, but gossip travelled fast between the Loonatics and he was sure that Ace already knew of Rev's glum behavior and Duck's suspicions towards him. That was just what he needed, the entire team pinning blame on him because of that mallard. When the leader stepped foot inside the pizzeria, he found no one at the counter. That was strange.

"Something doesn't seem quite right," Ace said aloud. He stepped in front of his team and scanned the empty pizzeria.

"Was there a curfew issued?" Duck asked everyone. It definitely was abnormal to see no one in the pizzeria, not even someone at the counter. The store was open as well.

"Where's Slam?" Lexi inquired and then frantically looked around the store.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon enough," Tech shrugged. He didn't worry about Slam too much, if anything, he was probably the strongest out of the Loonatics. The coyote stole a glance at the roadrunner. Rev looked to be in a haze, not paying particular attention to what was going around them. It still made Tech horribly guilty.

"Oh, hello, Loonatics! Sorry, I was on a small break," said the young cashier, emerging from one of doors labeled 'Employees Only.' He greeted them timidly and rang up the cashier. "What would you all like to eat?"

"Two cheese, extra cheese, pizza pies and one pepperoni," Ace glumly ordered and placed his credit card on the counter. The cashier took the card and charged the amount. Ace took back his credit card lethargically and carried back the pizza pies toward a table of six.

Everyone followed Ace's lead. Tech briefly thought how being a leader has its highs and lows. Ace had to deal with _everyone_ and somehow make the best of all situations. And yet he always seemed to appear stress-free and worry-free. Except for now. The rabbit looked tired and exhausted. On the left side of the table, Rev, Cassidy, and Duck piled in. On the right side, Tech, Ace, and Lexi sat across from them. It was still silent. The awkward tensions could be felt by all of them. Ace had enough of it quickly.

"Are you two going to keep this up? What's the matter? You're causing everybody else to tense up," Ace abruptly broke the silence. He glared down Tech and Rev. Then he passed everybody their plates and began to cut out his slice of pizza. Everybody else did the same except for Rev. He couldn't imagine eating when his stomach was literally turned upside down.

The bird improperly placed his elbows on the table while his head was propped up by the palm of his hands. Sure, he was hungry, but his emotions surpassed his hunger. Sure, Tech and Rev felt embarrassed for being called out by Ace in front of everyone, but that wasn't going to help them kiss and make up. Tech looked worriedly back at Rev when he grabbed a slice of pizza. The coyote lightly kicked Rev in his shin and then eyed the pizza when he got his attention. Rev simply shook his head and then looked down at his spotless plate. It was flipped now. Earlier he wanted Tech to eat, but now he wasn't going to have a bite to eat. Everybody began to ignore the situation, but Cassidy still felt sympathetic toward the bird. What did Tech do to him? The cat could certainly believe that the coyote could be crude at times. She remembered how he acted to her before he realized she was the child that delivered him cookies years ago.

"Aw, c'mon Rev, how are we going to eat all this pizza if you're not going to even eat one slice?" Lexi gave in. She couldn't be as cold as their leader. She wanted to make eye contact with the bird, but Rev wouldn't lift his head.

"It shouldn't be a problem," he responded in a slow pace, almost robotically.

Tech grunted and sighed at the same time. The coyote sat back in his seat and rolled his eyes. Rev wasn't being himself and he knew it was _entirely his fault_. Cassidy lightly sighed and only wished that everyone could act as giddy as they were when she first met them all. She honestly thought that the Loonatics never had any problems with each other since they continuously save Acmetropolis from peril. Cassidy made sudden eye contact with Lexi. The feline could sense something coming and it looked as though Lexi could hear it all too well. The two of them stared at each other keenly. Duck noticed this, but he was too late to question the two since the door to the pizzeria was kicked in. And it didn't look like any accident. The Loonatics jumped up from their seats and prepared for battle, but then they all realized that they held no weapons.

"A pizza party? How come I wasn't invited?" Massive's deep voice echoed through the room. The cashier was nowhere to be found. Massive stepped into the pizzeria and stood a distance away from the Loonatics.

"Sorry, VIP members only," Ace countered back and prepared to use his laser vision. Massive had no reason to be at the pizzeria. There was nothing of value here for him to take unless he only wanted revenge on the Loonatics. This worried Ace about where Slam was.

"Okay, let's go through this again," Massive held out his hands. Tech wanted to pull out his invention that would neutralize Massive's attack, but it was deep in his lab. "Half of you hit the floor, and the other half can fly sky high!" Massive raised one of his hands and then lowered the other. Soon enough, a light purplish gravitational force was sent out to the Loonatics.

Rev, Cassidy, and Lexi received the individual weights from Tech, Duck, and Ace. The blue feathered bird immediately hit the ground, but held his hand out for Tech to grab. Tech just barely grabbed his friend's hand as he began to float up toward the ceiling. The same thing happened to the rest of the Loonatics. Massive laughed manically at their efforts to hold themselves in place.

"C'mon team, its only gravity! We can still hit him!" Ace held on to Lexi's hands as he tried to take aim. Lexi attempted to take aim to shoot her brain blast, but it seemed impossible when she was upside down.

"Keep me still, Cassidy!" Duck ordered and the feline nodded vigorously. She wrapped her arms around the Duck's thigh to do so. She understood his plan and it worked out well enough for him to take aim and begin hitting Massive alongside Ace.

"Rev, try to hold on," Tech yelled out. The coyote was constantly spinning in a tangle with his friend.

"I-can't! You've-always-been-heavier-than-me,-Tech!" Rev said as he tried to grab his shoulders, but continued to slowly spin in another knot with his friend's body.

"_What_ does _that_ have to do with _anything_?" Tech growled in response to the roadrunner's comment. "Grab on to me!" he added with exasperation. Was it so hard for Rev to follow that command? Tech's patience was wearing thin.

"Where?" Rev questioned back.

"_Anywhere_!" Tech heatedly bellowed his answer. Tech decided _he_ would have to grab on to the rotating bird before he spun around again and lost his balance and place. Rev was much to slow to react right now for being a speedy roadrunner. He grabbed on to Rev's purple tail and in return Rev held on to the coyote's heels as he released a whimper. Now that he wasn't spinning anymore, Tech used his right hand to attack Massive with Ace and Duck.

Massive merely laughed at their efforts. Nothing scathed him. "How about we switch things up?" The manipulative gravity user waved his hand and the opposite happened. Ace, Tech, and Duck received the gravity from Lexi, Rev, and Cassidy. They shouted in shock and felt completely helpless as Massive toyed with them.

Tech was headed toward the ground, but Rev kept a firm grip on his heel and attempted to pull him up while he was being pulled up toward the ceiling. "Tech! I-got-you!" the bird tried to say with confidence. Tech looked up at him in disbelief. Rev was actually going to help him after what he had said and done to him? It almost made the coyote infuriated at his friend.

Cassidy screamed as she felt herself fly up toward the ceiling. "Duck! Duck! Duck!" she yelled out in a panic. The mallard forced himself to turn toward the ceiling as he was hurdling toward the ground, before he could reach the tiled floor; he held on to Cassidy's tail and was able to stop himself and her from being squashed.

"I got you, I got you!" he replied and repeated, trying to calm her down. The mallard quickly tugged at her tail to lift himself up and then wrap his arms around the feline. Cassidy cooperated and the two of them rotated, so she was facing the ground and Duck, with his hands tightly wrapped around her stomach, was on top of her, preventing himself from crashing into the ground. There wasn't a trace of foolishness in Duck's eyes. His plan was working and he held the two of them perfectly still in place. "Everyone, whoever has the weight of the two should be on top and the one that's floating up in the air should be facing the floor!" the mallard yelled out his suggestion, but it sounded more of an order.

Ace confirmed it when he nodded his head at the black feathered bird and did what he had done with Cassidy to Lexi. Since the two of them cooperated, trusted, and trained together many times, this technique was easily mastered in seconds. Rev and Tech were once again spinning around in a knot of limbs and torsos. Tech heard what Duck had said and looked at his four other teammates as an example. He knew Rev would trust him without question. The coyote pulled on his friend's shoulders to place him underneath his body and then hugged his torso. Rev willingly let Tech take control over him. It's not like he could fight against the coyote when he weighed lighter than a feather. Rev looked ahead and saw that massive had simply disappeared.

"Where-did-Massive-go?" Rev inquired aloud. Lexi gasped and Ace looked ahead in disbelief. Why would Massive just take off like that? Why leave when he had the Loonatics right where he wanted them? Helpless as could be. He could have dealt serious damage to all of them. Perhaps this was good, soon the gravitational force would ware off and- then Ace felt the building shaking. Everybody got panicky.

"He's going to bring this place down on us! I got a plan, but I don't know if we'll all make it!" Ace pulled Lexi up next to him. "I'm going to get everybody out of here! Sorry, Lexi," Ace's eyes turned a bright yellow. Lexi closed her eyes and realized Ace's plan. He'd simply blast everybody out of the building. The ceiling was beginning to cave in. Then soon afterwards everybody realized Ace's plan.

"Ace, wait, don't do it! There's got to be another way!" Lexi pleaded and tears built up in her eyes. She couldn't just let the love of her life slip away without her merely protesting.

"Ace! There's another way, just give me time to think!" Tech yelled out. He couldn't help, but feel his hands trembling under Rev. The coyote held the roadrunner close to him. Rev honestly felt good in Tech's protective grasp, but at the same time, he felt like regurgitating when he figured out Ace's plan.

"Ace! Don't do it! Don't do it!" Duck begged and Cassidy, under him, began to plead as well.

"_Shut up_ everyone! There isn't any time to think about anything else! I'm sorry, Lexi! I'm sorry everybody, I tried to be the best leader! I'm not going to watch you all die!" Ace closed his eyes tight and his whole body turned a bright yellow color. His laser had to be strong enough to push everybody out of the store. He was going to get everybody out of the gravitational forces and out of the store whether it killed him.

Ace opened his eyes and his blood red laser beams shot out of his ogles with tremendous force. It hit Lexi and she immediately flew out of the force. The bunny crashed into Duck and Cassidy. The laser didn't stop; the three of them broke out of Duck and Cassidy's force and crashed into Rev and Tech. The five of them instantaneously broke out of the next force and broke through the glass windows of the pizzeria. The five of them let the uncontrolled gravity get to them as they all fell in the middle of the road. They all watched as the pizzeria's roof cave in and collapse. Lexi jumped off of the pile of her friends and ran in front of the pizzeria.

"No! Ace!" she felt her hot tears trail down her cheeks. "Don't just sit there on the ground! Everybody, help!" Lexi screamed back at her friends almost crazily. No one had ever heard her use that tone of voice.

Tech pushed Duck's torso off of him and rolled off of Rev. During the collision, he made sure Rev wasn't the face of impact when Lexi, Duck, and Cassidy came flying towards them. Even though that meant he would end up on top of Rev when they hit the road, it wouldn't hurt as nearly as much when his three friends crashed into him. Cassidy gently pealed off Duck's arms that were tightly wrapped around her. Everybody jumped to their feet at Lexi's orders.

"I can get him out of there! Please, don't attack!" Cassidy pushed back Lexi to stop her from using her brain blast to decimate the rocks. The cat turned around with haste not only to save her leader, but to avoid looking further into Lexi's seemingly deranged and maddened eyes.

The cat ran into the store and fazed through the mess. She couldn't use her fazing powers before because she would simply float up and up into the air, plus she couldn't deal any damage to Massive without the help from the rest of the Loonatics. Cassidy had never used her power to save someone from being crushed to death. She knew where she last saw Ace and tried to navigate her way through the darkness. Cassidy made a literal guess as to if she had a hold of Ace or not. What she was holding on to and now shared her fazing powers with could have been a piece of the ceiling, but she trusted her instincts and dragged the dead weight with her. Her heart rate sped up. She didn't know whether Lexi would follow her instructions or not. She would be able to faze through Lexi's brain blast, but she would also absorb the attack and it would still feel as though she had been hit even though she wasn't knocked back. Ace would also share her pain. If she blasted the rocks, since she was fazing through the rocks, she and Ace would absorb the impact. Cassidy tried to mentally prepare herself for anything.

"We just can't stand here and do nothing! Clear it!" Lexi ordered. She was practically next in command. Zadavia had given her full leadership of the team when Ace's powers were taken away. Duck, Tech, and Rev eyed each other. They all disagreed with the female.

"Stop it, Lexi! You'll probably hurt Cassidy! She said not to attack!" Tech raced to the bunny, but she had already shot several hits at the caved in ceiling. He pulled her back by grabbing her shoulders, but that only made her angrier which charged her brain blasts.

"You need a time out, sister!" Duck quacked in front of Lexi. He grabbed her hands and quacked as far as he could away from the pizzeria. She was still able to aim her brain blasts at the store.

Cassidy felt every single brain blast shot. It became more and more difficult and painful to take so much as a baby step. The feline knew she couldn't give up, if she did, then her and surely Ace would be goners. She understood Lexi's want to help, but it was only hurting the two of them. Cassidy fell after receiving an especially strengthened brain blast. She could crawl only inches at a time while still keeping a firm grip on Ace. She wondered if her leader was even alive. First the impact from the ceiling; and now Lexi's brain blasts. Cassidy only wished that she could take the full blows from Lexi's attacks, but then her powers would give up on her and surely she wouldn't make it out alive.

"Tech! Cassidy-is-in-there-and-she's-trying-to-drag-Ace-out,-can-you-stop-Lexi?!" Rev frenetically requested. Tech believed his feathered friend because of his internal GPS. The coyote nodded at the request and countered Lexi's brain blast with his magnetic force. It could only hold off Lexi for so long.

"Duck! Stop her!" Tech shouted out and felt himself inching back by each second.

"Lexi, Cassidy's working on getting him out!" Duck jumped on top of Lexi from behind. She stopped her brain blast and tried to pull and shake the mallard off of her back. "Sorry, Lex, I can't let you go!"

"C'mon,-Cassidy! You-can-do-it!" Rev raced in front of the store and attempted to encourage his teammate.

"Cassidy, get out of there!" Tech shouted in hopes that Cassidy would take advantage of the time she had left before Lexi broke out of Duck's grasp. "Cassidy! You're almost there! C'mon!" Tech attempted to support the teen to push through her limits. For all they know the both of them could be dead.

"How-do-you-know?" Rev inquired Tech quizzically.

"I don't…" he answered honestly and glanced back at his friend with a worrisome look.

Unexpectedly, the two of them saw an orange hand emerge from the collapsed building. It was nonetheless Cassidy's hand. Tech immediately ran to the hand and knelt down. He tried to grab the hand to help pull his teammates out of the destruction. Nothing happened. His hands went through Cassidy's as if she were a ghost.

"I can't help her! Damn it!" Tech found himself cursing. He was frustrated that Ace would make such a foolish move. Way to 'take one for the team.' He remembered Ace telling him that when they were facing Weathervane. Ace didn't have the power of molecular regeneration and Tech couldn't give him the power unfortunately.

"Tech!" Rev pulled back his friend away from the hand. Tech smacked Rev's hands away without difficulty. He sent a glower at him before returning to his kneeling position before the hand. Rev was heartbroken and in awe at Tech's actions. What was happening to everyone? Ace's sudden heroic sacrifice, Cassidy's determination to save their leader, Lexi's love-driven rampage, and now Tech's anger towards him. Who was still sane?

Lexi threw Duck off of her back and growled at him. The mallard quickly rose to his feet and slapped his friend across the face. "Look here, missy, Cassidy's already coming out of the building without your so-called-help! If anything _you_ almost killed the _both_ of them!" Duck held on to Lexi's hands when he knew she wouldn't attack him anymore. Her face dropped to a remorseful expression. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She froze in place. The thought of Ace dying petrified her. Duck quacked them in front of the building.

"C'mon, Cassidy! You can make it!" Duck cheered the new member on. He couldn't question at the moment why Rev looked as though he had been slapped and was close to tears. Again, it was probably Tech's fault. The coyote had no idea how much he influenced the roadrunner's feelings. Rev hung on his every word. Duck would have to chastise the coyote later on for once. As self-centered as he was, if he knew one of his friends was getting abused, he was going to do something about it. Then the mallard came up with an idea to help Cassidy when he realized that no one could grasp her hand.

"Cassidy! Let me help you! You're apart of a team now, no one does anything alone! Cass, let me touch you so I can quack you and Ace out of there! Cass, let go of your power! Cass, can you hear me?! _Cass_!" Duck's chocked on his tears during his calling to Cassidy. Duck pushed aside Tech and the coyote didn't fight back for his position. The mallard frantically called out her name over and over again. Tears trailed down his cheeks. He felt too emotionally charged to give up just yet or anytime soon. It seemed like no one could do a damn thing about the situation. Why was everyone in fucking awe? Their leader and newest member were hanging on to life by a thread! And everyone was just acting like meager zombies!

Rev's eyes widened at Duck's efforts. He wished he could do something, anything, but he couldn't. Lexi still felt petrified. Everything was practically her fault. It dawned on her when Duck had slapped her just moments ago. If she hadn't brain blasted the caved in roof in a pathetic effort to save Ace, then Cassidy would have came out with Ace, unscathed. Now they were lucky to make it out alive, especially Ace. Tech glanced at Rev and instantly felt horrid about his behavior toward the bird the entire day. He didn't deserve any of it. Rev was simply a good hearted person who tried to make him happy or much less, take a break… Tech felt his own tears coming to his eyes. Cassidy was in big trouble of her losing her life over Ace, who sacrificed his when he blasted the rest of the out of the pizzeria. Tech was glad that he came tonight with the rest of the Loonatics. He wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing all of his friends were in such danger. What would all of them have done without Cassidy?

"C'mon, Cass… c'mon! _Trust me_!" the mallard shouted this. He burst into a full blown out sob. Duck pounded the ground with his bare fist. Sniffling, he managed to say once more, "_C'mon_!" he screamed again and stared at the orange hand. Duck placed his hands on Cassidy's over and over until finally felt the warmth of her fur. Right when he felt her touch he Quantum Quacked at once. The three of them appeared in the middle of the road. Duck was surely unscathed, but Cassidy and Ace did not share his same fate.

Lexi, Tech, and Rev raced over to the other three. Lexi gasped at the sight of Cassidy and Ace. Their clothes were tattered, ripped and torn. They had patches of black spots on their body, burn marks, from the impact of her brain blast. Cassidy and Ace were both too weak to stand or much less, to move their necks or open their eyelids. Cassidy's stronghold on Ace's wrist loosened when she realized that Duck had saved them. Ace's wrist was noticeably bruised from Cassidy's hold. Heck, she was afraid that if she let go of Ace his life would slip away. The feline wasn't about to live the rest of her young life feeling as though she took away such a superior life. Tech knelt down to check both of their vital signs. Cassidy had a faint heartbeat while Ace's was almost nonexistent.

"Duck…" Cassidy mumbled and barely opened her eye lids, and when she did, she could only see blurs of bodies.

"What is it, Cass? Stay with us, stay with us, stay _with_ _us_!" Duck held the cat in his arms and watched her drop unconscious. "_Cassidy_!" he shouted out and quickly chocked back on his tears.

Lexi wept over Ace's body. Rev placed a comforting arm on Lexi's shoulder. "Lexi, let me get him to the tower for medical attention!" he said, almost pleading with her to give him permission. Lexi lifted herself from the seemingly dead body and watched Rev place him over his shoulder. "Duck, I can take Cassidy to the infirmary," Rev bent down to take Cassidy's limp body, but Duck growled and pulled her back.

"She was only trying to help! She was only trying to help! You! You did this!" Duck pointed at Lexi and his eyes turned orange and soon his body was glowing with an orange color. The mallard was engulfed in his own rage. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be here tonight! You did this! Cassidy only wanted to help, she was trying to _help_! She was trying to _help_! She was trying to save our piss poor, ass, of a leader, _Ace_!" Duck pronounced 'Ace' with such hatred, it made Tech wince as he pulled Duck back away from Cassidy's body. The mallard's speech was interjected with such abhorrence. Duck reluctantly let Tech pull him back. He knew in the back of his mind that he should let Rev help Cassidy. More tears streamed down Lexi's white furred cheeks. Everything Duck was saying was bitterly true, no matter how harsh of a fashion he was saying it in. She deserved his punishment. She deserved to receive a good chastisement.

Rev was then able to throw Cassidy over his other shoulder and make his way to the Loonatic's hospital at the tower in less than ten seconds. He could only hope that he would be in time to hook up his leader and Cassidy to the machinery and life support they needed before it was too late. He didn't know about Ace, his dead weight made it seem like it was already too late for him. What would they do without their leader? Rev was already beginning to miss his unfriendly glowers.

"Get the hell off of me, you stupid coyote! You don't know how to treat your own friends! _None_ of you do! No one fucking does!" Duck elbowed Tech in his stomach and stepped forward. He activated his jetpack and flew into the air, toward the tower in hot pursuit of the knowledge of his friend's conditions. It was true, Duck could be so self-absorbed in himself at times, but he never crossed the line when it came to friendship. He was observant of everyone else's behaviors. Cassidy told Lexi not to attack, and yet she did anyways. Tech had always been an ass to Rev, even in front of the other Loonatics to boost up his image and lower Rev's. It was easy to notice this. Ace had his share of unfair punishments he'd give everyone or individually. Most of them weren't necessary, but it kept everybody in their place. It made it easier for him to control everybody. Some days, weeks, and even months, it seemed like Ace absolutely loathed everybody on the team. By his actions today, Duck could understand Ace's concept of tough-love. He'd give up his life for the welfare of all of _them_. Cassidy was ready to give hers up for people she didn't even fully know. It certainly seethed him that Lexi almost killed Ace and poor Cassidy, but he would eventually find it in his heart to forgive the bunny. Right now, he felt like strangling her and kicking Tech somewhere very private. The mallard had to remove himself from their hideous sight. Their deeds were equally as heinous.

Tech and Lexi blankly stared at each other. After a pause, both of them earnestly activated their jetpacks and made their way to the tower, just wishing to disappear from Acmetropolis. Tech wanted to so badly tell Rev how important he was to him and tell him how sorry he was. Lexi only felt like killing herself if anything happened to Ace. The two of them reached their tower and sluggishly walked toward the infirmary. It had been a long night. It was about to be midnight and two lives hung in the balance. The two of them stopped in front of the infirmary when they spotted Rev and Duck with guilt-filled features. Before Tech could open his mouth, Rev answered his question.

"Zadavia was here… she told us to get out so she could work on Ace and Cassidy. She was here and called the tower dozens of times to warn us about the escape of Massive…" Rev's voice sounded hoarse, as if he too had been crying. Tech would understand if he was. The coyote was tear-filled himself. Lexi went hysterical and just sat on the floor where she was and continued to sob.

Duck couldn't bring himself to look at her, much less acknowledge her. His thoughts were only consisted of their heroic leader and Cassidy's naïve intentions to save him. Why did it always have to be the good people of the world losing their lives? He couldn't answer himself and he doubted Tech or Rev would have his answer. Duck remained solemnly contemplating his thoughts. The mallard kept his arms tightly crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall, facing the floor. He knew this was the first time in his life that he acted so out of his usual character, but under the circumstances, who was still in their original character?

Tech turned around. He didn't want to face any of the Loonatics. If only he had one of his inventions on him, surely they would have avoided what was happening to them now. But he didn't, and he couldn't keep feeling sorry for the past. He couldn't keep feeling remorseful about his past with Rev. He would just have to make up for the lost time. The coyote swiveled around and walked past the weeping rabbit, looking Rev straight in the eyes. Duck raised his head slightly to watch what would happen. Perhaps the coyote would give a sincere apology for _once_ in his miserable and lonely life, Duck resentfully thought to himself. The coyote approached Rev and engulfed the roadrunner in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Rev. For everything. I know I can't change the past and it's quite hard to change myself. I'm beyond sorry for all that I've done to you. You do nothing more, but try to assist me, make me happy, and nourish me. I don't know why I try to push you back all the time. I've never had friends. I've never had someone like you enter my life. Why you keep coming back and forgiving me is also beyond me!" Tech broke out in a full sob. Heavy feelings were pouring out tonight, Duck thought. Lexi's sobs subsided as she watched Tech apologize and act contrite toward the roadrunner for once. The event almost seemed… historic.

"It's-okay…" Rev didn't know how to act now. It was usually him apologizing and pleading to Tech for forgiveness. What else could he say? The bird began to pat Tech on the back. "It's-my-fault,-too. If only I told you-"

"Shut up! You're so stupid! _Nothing_ is your fault, Rev! Just don't say anything…" Tech's embrace loosened, but his arms were still wrapped around the roadrunner.

What words of wisdom would Zadavia give her Loonatics? Duck just wished that everyone would be all right and that things could go back to normal. One question remained, burning in his mind. Why did Massive simply leave when Ace blasted them out of the building? They were all so vulnerable for an attack. What was his reason? Did this aid him in any way for his next attack? Duck could only think of theories and possibilities, not facts.


	4. Upshot

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. **

Thank you for the kind reviews! It means a lot to me! Criticism is welcomed! R&R! I might have overdone the injuries… but he got crushed by a rooftop. I think there's a small, tiny, part in this chapter where you can find out the love interests.

Chapter 4: Upshot

Orange triangle.

Duck, Tech, Rev, and Lexi all sat against the wall of the hospital just waiting for Zadavia to come out and answer their queries. No one had spoken ever since Tech demanded Rev to stop talking. Duck wasn't exactly pleased with Tech's apology, but an apology was an apology. He still planned on giving Tech a good talking to afterwards. All four of them had been waiting for over five hours to just know about how their friends were doing. Duck didn't care. He could wait into the rest of the night and all of the next day. He was going to find out how Ace and Cassidy were doing before he did _anything_ else. The mallard's eyes became bloodshot and dry. He was in deep thought and would forget to blink. Lexi sat next to the mallard, snoozing quietly away. She succumbed to her own depression and had fallen asleep. Tech sat on the other side of Duck, with Rev next to him sleeping on his shoulder. The coyote was awake. He was used to staying up all night in his lab. It didn't make it any easier to stay up late in this peculiar situation. To think that everybody wanted to go out tonight to get closer and have some fun for once; now everyone was ready to cut each other's throats out. Maybe they all only worked well together when they were under pressure.

Duck shivered again. Tonight was for the most part a bit chillier than usual, but perhaps it was just him. The horrid scene played back in his head over and over again. Ace blasted them out of that store and was ready to accept his fate under that collapsed rooftop. He told them that he wasn't going to watch them die. Everybody had refused his plan and pleaded for him to not execute it by all means. There was nothing anybody could do though. His fate and actions were inevitable. They could not be avoided. Ace's plans almost always followed through. Everybody would be dead if it weren't for him. Yet, the boss's fate was ultimately saved by Cassidy's naïve, yet heroic actions. She probably didn't think of herself as a hero. The only thing that probably ran through her mind was that she could save Ace, and she did. The cat didn't think twice about her actions. Duck only wished that he could have predicted her intentions so he wouldn't have released his grasp around the cat. Duck hugged his knees and sternly stared at his now ripped jeans that revealed his scratched knees. Everybody was scratched and bruised up, but those were minor injuries. Ace and Cassidy's injuries were life threatening and it's always easy to yield pain and let life slip away. But Ace was stronger than that and he knew Cassidy was as well. They _can_ make it.

"Duck… she's going to make it. They both are," Tech placed a comforting hand on the mallard's shoulder. Even though he had his own doubts, he had to say something consoling. The coyote felt horrible for all the mallard was enduring from the night. Everybody was hit hard by Ace's and Cassidy's actions, but it seemed to hit Duck especially.

Duck immediately swatted the hand away. How dare that coyote _touch_ him? Duck jumped up and beamed in the direction of the coyote. "How do _you_ know? What if they die?! What if they die?! What if they… die…? What if… what if… you have no idea… what if," Duck stopped himself from continuing. He wasn't making sense with his words anymore. He sunk to his knees and then bottom. Tears instantly filled the mallard's ogles as they slipped down his beak. All of the emotions were hitting him again. In the last several hours he had felt so numb about everything he couldn't even feel himself converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. And with all the numbness finally came the waterworks.

Tech lurched forward only inches to hold Duck when the door to the infirmary opened and there Zadavia stood with a blank expression on her face. Lexi and Rev quickly awoke when they heard the door opening. Duck gasped at her sudden appearance. He looked up at her with his tear-filled eyes and sniffled. Zadavia's eyes softened when her sight landed on the mallard. She looked at her left to see Rev and Tech with only questions in their eyes. On her left, Lexi looked as distraught as could be. It was definitely time for her to tell them the condition of her friends. Zadavia lowered her head and feebly began.

"Loonatics… I'm sorry to say, Ace… his right cheekbone's been crushed, his shoulders are dislocated, his clavicle is broken, several broken ribs, a punctured lung, shattered right hip, shattered ankles, and a broken wrist I believe Cassidy's grip caused. His concussion caused him to fall into a coma," Zadavia gulped as she finished the long list of grave injuries. Tears came to her eyes.

Duck's heart sank to his stomach. Lexi stood up and ran off to the nearest bathroom to regurgitate her dinner and whatever else was in her stomach. Tech stared at Zadavia in disbelief, yet he did not want to lay his eyes on his leader. To see him in such a way… was only austerely depressing to him. Rev could not begin to think about how much time Ace would be in the hospital. What about his coma? Their leader would have to live off of life support until he woke up. What if seeing their leader in such a condition was so disheartening to the team that everyone would agree on 'pulling the plug'? Tears instantly trailed down the bird's face as he thought about it. Duck was doing his absolute best to not break out in blubber. He quietly sniffed to himself as tears continued to make his way from his eyes onto his beak and the floor. The mallard couldn't stand to look at anything. It sickened him to look at his own knees and the floor. Duck was sure he would have lost his dinner just as Lexi did if he made contact with Zadavia's now blank expression.

"Cassidy… what about her?" Tech managed to choke out his question through his tears. He couldn't stand seeing Duck the way he was right now. Perhaps if he knew that Cassidy wasn't in such critical condition it would give him hope. The question was also burning unremittingly in the coyote's mind.

"She's awake. She is even talking. Cassidy made it out with non-life threatening injuries. Although, she is severely burned and has a few broken ribs and a broken foot. She has _lots_ of bruises and burns. You all may speak to her and see Ace, but please, don't touch. All injuries severely hurt," Zadavia stepped back inside, but left the door open. She prayed that the knowledge of Cassidy's wellbeing would give the Loonatics some hope. Particularly Duck.

Rev stood up as soon as Zadavia made her way back inside the hospital. The bird helped his coyote friend up to his feet. Not only were the coyote's feet numb, they felt like cinder blocks as he thought more and more about the condition of Ace. Could he invent something that could restore him back to full health and consciousness? The thoughts swarmed in his head as he let Rev pull him up to walk on his feet. Tech halted before stepping foot into the hospital. The sight of Ace lying on the bed, lifeless as can be, with all those casts, and the noise of his slow heart beat all sickened him. He didn't want to take another step unless Duck was next to him. Rev looked quizzically at Tech when he stopped before taking a step into the infirmary.

"C'mon, Duck. I'm sure Cassidy wants to talk to you… c'mon," Tech quietly pleaded with the mallard, almost in a whisper. He spoke only loud enough for him to catch his every word. Rev placed a hand on Tech's shoulder as he looked back at the mallard. Again, he wished he could something about everything. "Duck…" he repeated and looked longingly at the mallard that wouldn't return his worried stare. There was no response, not even so much as a movement from the usual over-confident superhero. Tech knew exactly how to get the duck on his feet. "Ace is barely alive while Cassidy wishes to speak to us. And you're not even going to move a single muscle? Is that how you treat your wounded friends? Is that _how_?!" Tech yelled his last inquiry. He was getting too emotional. Not by the false fact that Duck didn't care about his injured friends, but by the sole fact that Ace would more than likely not make it out of his predicament. Rev stared at the floor as Tech performed his efforts to get the mallard to simply move.

It worked ponderously.

"You _shut up_! You're telling me that I don't care about my injured friends? I hope you rot in _hell_! You don't care about your friends when their in perfect _health_! You take advantage, belittle, and piss all over them! Don't even fucking talk to me unless you want me to _kill_ you!" Duck slowly rose to his feet and clenched his fists as he screamed as loud as he could to the poor-excuse-of-a-coyote-and-superhero. He could barely control his fists from targeting and throwing themselves at the coyote's snout. Duck made a direct B-Line toward the coyote. As he approached, Tech glared down at him while Rev scooted off to the side. Duck easily gripped the coyote by his jacket and pushed him into the roadrunner. He knew he needed to let go of his rage before he began to speak with Cassidy or look at Ace.

Zadavia had no words for the mallard as he stomped into the hospital. For once she did not want to threaten to reprimand the bird for his actions. She fully understood his outburst and would be just as lenient with anyone else. She stepped back and let Duck walk past her, heading straight toward Cassidy's hospital bed. Zadavia knew that she should have probably taken away the Loonatics' privileges to see their friends until they were in full control of their emotions. Tech expected the livid reactions from the mallard and made his way into the hospital with Rev behind him, trembling.

Cassidy pretended as though she didn't hear Tech or Duck's words before the three of them approached her. A smile appeared on her face when she saw her friends. Duck felt solely responsible for Cassidy's injuries. If only he stopped Lexi earlier and had slapped her sooner, neither Cassidy nor Ace would be as badly burned or bruised. Secondly, if he had Quantum Quacked quickly enough when he felt Cassidy's surreal touch, her foot and ribs would be in perfect condition. He could have prevented so much… It later came to him that everyone else probably thought the same things. The mallard's enraged expression soon turned tremendously soft when he saw Cassidy. What could he say to her? What could anyone say at a moment like this? His mind flashed back to when he had completely lost all control of his emotions when he pleaded for the feline's trust and touch. All he wanted to do was to see her body and Ace's out from under the collapsed building. He couldn't bear seeing her inch her way out. It wasn't right. The mallard pulled out a chair and sat as close as he could to the bed. Tech and Rev stood over the feline on the other side of her bed.

"Hey, guys! I've been awake for a while. Zadavia's been busy on…" she stopped herself from annunciating their leader's name. It was obvious what she was going to say next anyways. Everybody shuffled their feet and pretended to dismiss what she had said. "Yeah, so, I just wanted to see how you all were. You all seemed fine when I last saw you…" Cassidy knew in the back of her head that they were all emotionally crushed by their leader's condition. The cat felt guilty and thought she was the reason for Ace's condition. Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry Ace is the way he is. I tried my best, I really did. I thought I could save him in time…" tears streamed down Cassidy's face.

Duck widened his eyes in alarm. Why was she saying sorry? Inferiority travelled through his body. Why wasn't everybody in the world like Cassidy or Rev? They'd never dare to do anything heinous or evil. Rev wanted to say something comforting, but nothing came out of his mouth. Tech only stood there like a statue, looking down at Cassidy with remorse. Words couldn't describe the amount of sympathy he held towards her. Duck ignored Zadavia's request of 'no touching' and held Cassidy's hands in his. Tears filled his eyes again when he had just wiped them away.

"Nothing is your fault," he said with exasperation. "You went completely out of your way to save someone you barley even know. I wouldn't have been able to do that, Cass. And also, Ace is _not_ dead." Duck had no intention of raising his voice around the cat. His tone was firm, yet extraordinarily friendly at the same time.

Cassidy was afraid of the mallard. She heard his response to Tech before he marched into the hospital. Duck wasn't the same person he was when the two of them met less than twenty four hours ago. She expected his response to be fierce and heart wrenching, but he used a softer tone with her and even held her burnt hands. The cat honestly thought to herself that she would have preferred Tech holding her hands than Duck. Her aquamarine blue eyes locked in with Duck's pair.

"Thanks…" she softly replied, not knowing what else to say. She felt her heart had launched itself up in her throat as her stomach sunk lower. Cassidy only wished that she could find words to continue a more delightful conversation. "Where's Lexi?" she inquired genuinely. Cassidy was honestly relieved to not see the rabbit in the room with them. She couldn't begin to think of the amount of guilt Lexi held.

"She's-in-the-bathroom-losing-her-dinner-and-whatever-else," Rev gave a short and quick answer. He rubbed the back of his neck and exchanged a glance with the coyote.

"Do I look that bad?" Cassidy turned her head away from the two and looked into Duck's somber blue ogles.

Duck gave Tech and Rev a vile glower. "No, you don't look… bad at all," Duck didn't want to use any strong vocabulary. Everybody would have to be careful of their words for a long time. "Look, Cass… nobody would have predicted Ace's actions. Nobody could have saved him besides you, and you did," Duck released his loose grip on Cassidy's hands before he got too carried away and squeezed them. He didn't want to cause anymore harm to Cassidy than he already had unintentionally…

"Cassidy, you look exactly like the child I met six years ago. Just taller and shorter, summer pink, hair," Tech smiled lovingly down at his favorite child. Cassidy smiled big, with teeth.

Duck felt emotionally batted to his chest. For some reason, he felt a tinge of jealousy, yet a ball of rage concoct in his insides as Tech spoke. He had to control himself right now in front of Cassidy and certainly Zadavia. Unfortunately, he couldn't just jump over the hospital bed and tackle the coyote to the floor. The thoughts of 'Why not?' continuously pushed through the back of his mind. The way Cassidy also looked up at the coyote as opposed to him made him want to roar out in his insanity. Perhaps he was just going crazy. All that happened was really getting to everyone and just causing everyone to act out of character. Lexi would be a prime example, but he would be the next one. Then Tech by his behavior toward Rev, and the roadrunner probably had the smallest personality change. What did Duck know, though? For all he knew Rev was also probably struggling to deal with his emotions. Wasn't everybody?

Rev could feel his heartbeat rapidly increase. His expression stayed sorrow-filled. The bird felt uncomfortably jealous when he saw the way Tech looked down at Cassidy. Weren't they like, ten years apart? The roadrunner emptied his mind of his bitter thoughts toward Cassidy. She just almost gave up her life to save Ace and he was thinking about all the unpleasant things about her. Rev twirled around on his heels and walked over to Ace's bedside. He pulled out a chair and stared at his leader's accepting features. Ace was prepared for death. When he woke up he would sure be surprised.

"Cassidy, are you feeling all right?" Zadavia inquired as she walked over to her bedside next to Duck.

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine. Why, Zadavia?" she asked back and exchanged glances with her friends.

"Because… I think what has happened tonight will forever scar all of you… I'm deeply sorry for all that has happened. If only I had gotten to all of you sooner and warned you… but what happened, happened. I'm sending all of you on vacation. Please, don't ask _any_ questions." Zadavia kept an unusually firm tone in her voice as she explained her plans. Duck, Tech, and Rev looked up at her in incredulity. "Rev, you're going back to spend time with your family. Duck, I'm sending you to a beautiful resort on an island. Tech, you will be going to a luxurious cruise. Lexi will be going to a spa. Please, let me send you all off somewhere to reconnect with yourselves and perhaps each other. Your vacation will last for approximately a month," Zadavia closed her eyes and lowered her head.

Rev raced to Tech's side and looked quizzically at the princess. Duck couldn't imagine leaving Cassidy's bedside for some resort on an island. He'd vomit right now if he found out that it was the same island he did the commercial shoot for. But wasn't the island destroyed? Tech wanted to be there when Ace woke up from his coma. He wanted to share the moment with everyone when their leader woke up. The coyote didn't want to go on vacation on some stupid cruise. He wanted to stay at the tower with everybody else, with Cassidy, with Ace. Everybody was acting as a toxin to each other. It was hard to be alone with anyone without lashing out from pure uncontrolled emotions and held in rage. To be together as a group was almost a death sentence. Tensions were so thick you'd think you'd eventually choke on yourself.

"Zadavia… I don't want to go on a vacation. I want to stay here and watch Ace wake up…" Rev spoke out for the rest of them. Tears chocked him back and he felt reluctant to look into Zadavia's ogles.

"I know, Rev… I'll be here with Cassidy and Ace each day. You've all done so much for Acmetropolis. If Ace wakes up, I'll be sure to notify _all_ of you. I want you all to take time for yourselves right now. You all need it so much… please reconsider. I won't force you. I would like you all to leave in the next thirty minutes and get some rest, all of you." Zadavia slowly turned around and made her way out of the infirmary.

"If she thinks I'm going to go to some remote island for _vacation_, then she's got another thing coming!" Duck abruptly yelled out when he was sure Zadavia was out of earshot. Tech and Rev turned to face the angered mallard. They thought the same thing.

"I don't want to leave. I want to be here when Ace wakes up," Rev lowered his head and felt tears come to him once again. Why put up so many blank facades? He felt emotionally torn and continuously swallowed a lump in his throat. Tech placed a comforting hand on Rev's shoulder.

"I do, too," Tech agreed and eyed Duck. He knew the subject was sensitive for the mallard. He took everything hard, next to Lexi. "Duck… please loosen up. It's not like you to get so worked up. What happened to… what happened to Danger Duck?" Tech knew that Duck had warned him that he would kill him if he spoke to him, but he didn't regard the warning too seriously.

"Loosen up? _Loosen_ up? Ace is almost _dead_ and you want me to _loosen_ up as if nothing had ever happened? Are you _sick_? How am I supposed to act-"

"Please, stop fighting!" Cassidy cried out and interrupted another one of Duck's responses. She knew the mallard was especially affected by Ace's conditions and her actions, but he certainly did need to hold his tongue and control his emotions.

Tech and Duck stared at each other with remorse for a few seconds and then looked down at Cassidy. Rev hugged himself, his thoughts only consisted of Ace. When would he wake up? When would things fully return back to normalcy? Could anyone at least give a prediction? The roadrunner did agree with Cassidy. Fighting was going to solve nothing as well as loathing feelings.

"She's right, we can't be arguing like this. It's not good. How-are-we-supposed-to-defend-ourselves-against-an-attack?" Rev slightly lifted his head, but made no eye contact with anyone as he spoke. The bird didn't even know what he wanted to accomplish with his message.

"I'm sorry, Cass," Duck said in his sincerest tone that was rarely ever heard. Cassidy looked away, and then looked back with narrowed brows.

"Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to Tech," she said in an irritated tone. Duck gulped. The girl was right, though. He had been treating Tech like a pile of dong ever since the beginning of the night. Even though he did deserve most of the treatment… an apology was most appropriate right now. Duck lifted his head and stared at the coyote straight in the eyes.

"I'm really sorry, Tech. You don't deserve to be disrespected. I'm very sorry, Tech. I wish I could take my words back…" the mallard whispered his last sentence of apology as he lowered his head and began to weep again. He had no control over his emotions. The slightest thing either made him sob or burst out in a tantrum. The mallard wondered if this was how everyone was feeling. Lost and confused without the clear guidance of their beloved leader, Ace.

"Duck… I completely understand. Don't start crying again. You make me want to cry as well, and if I start crying, surely Rev and Cassidy will cry if they aren't already…" as Tech said this, tears already overflowed his eyelids. Rev audibly sniffled and Cassidy silently wept to herself.

"Tech… I wish I never said any of those cruel things to you, to Lexi," Duck buried his face in his hands and continued to sob heavily. "Tech… please just invent something that'll make everything better again! Invent something! Please… invent something… please just make something. Make something! Anything…" his voice trailed off as it was muffled by the palm of his hands as well.

"I _can't_ just make something, Duck. That isn't how life works. I can't make something to make everything all good again… I'm sorry," Tech attempted to wipe away the tears from his eyes, but they came back as soon as he replied to Duck.

Rev sunk to his knees at Ace's bedside and buried his face in his forearms that were placed on the bed. "Ace! Come back, please! I-want-you-back! Ace… Ace… Ace… please… why-aren't-you-here-with-us?" the roadrunner silently spoke to himself and then continued to weep.

Cassidy couldn't help, but cry as well. No one in the room could break out and become the new face of bravery or hero. No one could just at least pretend to have some control over their emotions and tell everyone that everything was going to be okay while they needed to accomplish A, B, and C. That was Ace's job… No one had the nerve or guts to do what he did. It wouldn't seem right to have anyone else take his place. It was easier to just cry about the situation than to take matters into their own hands.

"Hey… what's everyone crying for? Is this heaven? It's awfully loud and… sad for it to be."


	5. Year's Worth

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. **

Thanks a ton for reviewing my story, PG and Yunno. It means a lot! I can't stop saying thanks, haha. Criticism is welcomed, R&R! The song is _Common Reaction by Uh Huh Her_ I put in italics during Ace's… death-like state. The song seemed to match his dilemma in my head. The chapter is a bit… inappropriate toward the end.

Chapter 5: Year's Worth

Yellow triangle.

_You're covered in dust. Oh, you're covered in dust. _

"I'm not going to watch all of you die!" it was the last thing Ace remembered shouting out to his teammates. He forced himself to close his eyes shut while he generated enough energy to blow them out of the pizzeria. He was sure he wasn't going to make it out of this, so he didn't want to last see his teammates looking at him in despair and grief. He wanted to last see his team working together willingly to take down Massive. He didn't want to see Lexi crying for him as his last sight on Acmetropolis. He wanted to see only the color of blood red, his lasers pushing his beloved friends out of the pizzeria. And then he wanted to see his implemented plan work as he watched his friends fall in the middle road as he crashed into the ground and felt the overcoming pain of the roof collapse take his life away.

_You tell me everything is all right, and you don't mind. _

The leader was sure he was dead. He was a spirit now, floating above the collapsed roof, floating above his body, buried under the rubble. A smile came upon his face as he waved to his friends. It was apparent that they didn't see him by Lexi's actions.

"We can't just stand here and do nothing! Clear it!" she yelled out to the four others in a screechy kind of tone that pierced Ace's hearing. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain he would have been in if he were still alive in his body. The bunny already felt appalled for leaving his friends behind. He had no idea they would all try to frantically save him. He continued to watch all of them. He saw Cassidy tell something to Lexi as she fazed into the collapsed building.

"Cassidy, no! Don't do it! _Cassidy_! Let me die! Let me die, damn it! Let me _die_!" Ace couldn't move himself from his place or else he would have tried to float down in front of the feline and tell her this. Ace was enraged by Cassidy's efforts, but he soon understood w_hy_. Ace would have felt the same need to set out on a rescue mission if it were anybody else on his team, especially Lexi. Now he couldn't imagine _not_ doing something if it were anybody else. Nonetheless, Ace still didn't want Cassidy to rescue him from the rubble. All of them should have left and taken off after Massive. Now he was nowhere to be found. And what exactly did he accomplish? Was his mission to solely kill him?

_I don't like quiet in the rain with you. I don't like quiet, you wait for fire. _

Ace's eyes grew wide and soft when he watched Lexi brain blast the rooftop in attempts to clear the destruction to 'save' him. He looked ahead in skepticism of his teammate's reactions. They were all so vulnerable for attack. All they cared about was him at the moment. Why? Ace thought himself as the most horrid leader for them. The sadness within him easily produced tears in his ogles. The rabbit looked down at the rooftop, but then looked ahead when he heard Duck scream and pound his fists into the ground. He was repeating the same things over and over again. That wasn't like Duck to react in such an inexperienced manner. The mallard continued to sob heavily and weep loudly as he called out Cassidy's name.

"C'mon, Cass! C'mon! Trust me, Cass! C'mon!" he heard the mallard yell the same lines over and over again. He wondered what was keeping Cassidy from trusting Duck and letting him Quack them out of the rubble. Was she simply thinking about whether if she had the energy to drag herself and him out of the mess after Lexi's brain blasts? Was it truly because she did not trust Duck? They worked well together before the roof collapsed when Massive tried to tangle the Loonatics together. Ace discarded his thoughts and merely continued watched everyone, powerless to do anything. He was dead, or so he thought.

_Do you feel love? Can you feel when you're wounded like that, dear? Don't mind, it's a common reaction. _

Ace blinked several times when he saw Duck quack into the middle of the street. Boy did his body look like a mess. Everybody did. What was up with that? Ace couldn't understand why everyone was in such distraught and acted so desolate. He wouldn't let himself believe that it was because of his sacrifice for the team that left everyone so emotionally frayed. The rabbit's ears stood up straight when he began to listen to Duck's rant toward Rev and Lexi. The mallard was going mad. He'd never seen Duck as disconnected as he was now. He looked to be detached from what was going on around him. His eyes possessed a deranged look of madness as he held Cassidy over his lap and in his arms. As a leader, Ace looked down on his teammates as unorganized. Did they all count on him that much? Could they not do anything themselves?

"She was only trying to help! She was only trying to help! You! You did this!" Duck pointed at Lexi and his eyes turned orange and soon his body was glowing with an orange color. The mallard seemed to be engulfed in his own rage. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be here tonight! You did this! Cassidy only wanted to help, she was trying to _help_! She was trying to _help_! She was trying to save our piss poor, ass, of a leader, _Ace_!"

Ace lowered his head when he heard how Duck referred to him. Was that how the mallard really thought of him? A piss poor, ass, of a leader? The thought crushed him mentally and emotionally. Sure, he thought of himself as unfair and relentless sometimes, but he would have never thought of himself as a piss poor, ass, of a leader. For a moment Ace wished he was alive so he could have made piece with the duck and his thoughts of him before he perished. Little did the rabbit know, he would have more than enough time to make peace.

_They tell me everything is all right, and you don't mind. Can you feel when you're wounded like that, dear? _

The rabbit watched as Rev threw his body over his shoulder and soon Cassidy's once Duck was finished with his rant and Tech pulled him back. He was sure that Duck _let_ Tech pull him back. The mallard wasn't that weak and it didn't look as though he was putting up a fight against the coyote. He must have known that it was best to let Rev take him and Cassidy to their hospital. The roadrunner sped off to the tower and then Duck escaped Tech's grasp just as Rev left. He probably waited until Rev left because he knew the roadrunner wouldn't have been pleased with his actions towards the coyote. Duck said his final piece against the desert animal and the other bunny. What did he mean by no one knew how to treat their friends? Ace felt as if he had left a horrible example for the rest of the team. He rarely ever intervened with his team when they had personal issues amongst each other. Ace thought back to when he called Tech and Rev out. Why didn't he say anything else? All he wanted to do was embarrass them in front of everyone. Were those the actions Duck was referring to? As Ace watched Tech and Lexi slowly fly off, he disappeared where he was.

"Well, this is weird," Ace said aloud to himself as he appeared in the hospital room. The rabbit had no clue what was happening to him or who was controlling his _soul_. He wondered if he was going to heaven, hell, or back to Acmetropolis in his body. The bunny looked over his shoulder several times to see if he would find the Grim Reaper about to decapitate him with his scythe. No one was there. He stood in the hospital room and watched the conversation between Duck and Tech. Duck was lashing out at Tech yet again, but Cassidy had stopped him before he continued to demean him any further.

Soon the water works came. The rabbit couldn't believe his ears when Duck had asked Tech to make something to make everything all 'better' again. What was the mallard thinking? He made no sense with his words. Tech's response was heartbreaking to the leader even though he predicted it. Ace watched with wide eyes as Rev made his way to his bedside and wept. The roadrunner practically prayed for his safe return. Ace couldn't deem that his whole team would pass up a vacation to watch his battered self wake up from a coma. Apart of him breathed a sigh of relief that he was dead, and the other part grew enraged. It was a bittersweet moment to watch his heartbeat on the monitor. He wouldn't rest in peace, but he would be able to see his friends while enduring immense pain. He would sure have a lot of visitors crowd around him to just watch him do… nothing.

"Guys! You can't be serious… guys, can you all hear me? Can anyone hear me?! Rev, baby? _Duck_? Tech? Cassidy…? Where's Lexi?" Ace, bewildered as can be, walked around the room. He simply walked past and through his teammates. They couldn't hear, see, or feel him. Would he wander Acmetropolis for all of eternity? It was driving him crazy to see his teammates sob over his loss of consciousness and battered body. "Stop! Stop! Everyone, just stop!" Ace ran over to his own bedside and stared down at his lifeless body. He looked dead. His heartbeat was virtually imaginary. "God, help me, I can't stand seeing my friends like this!" The rabbit sunk to his knees and began to bawl his eyes out. His friends had no idea that he was in the hospital room with them, also crying and shedding his own tears for them. He knew his team needed him now. They would always need him.

Ace stopped mid cry and opened his aquamarine eyes wide. The rabbit couldn't control his own breathing. He felt himself breathing robotically as he felt sharp pains all over his body. An overwhelming pain consumed his cheek, wrist, ankles, hip, head, and rib cage. It was almost everywhere. The rabbit could hear Rev's cries more and more audibly now. He could hear Duck, Tech, and Cassidy's cries as well. He felt the bird's hands on his and he blinked his eyes. Ace found himself laying on a bed and looking up a white tiled ceiling. He was in the hospital! He was alive again! Ace did his best to squeeze back Rev's hand. The roadrunner felt the touch as his dead instantly popped up and he stared at Ace's features, moving slightly. At first he thought that he purely imagining the surreal touch, but in fact, Ace was waking up.

Red Triangle.

"Ugh… Hey… is this heaven? It's awfully loud and… sad for it to be," Ace slowly blinked his eyelids. His words were muffled through his breathing tube that was stuck down his throat due to his collapsed lung. His words were still heard by everyone in the room. There was an immediate pause after he spoke. Everyone's sobs subsided when they heard Ace's weak speak and joke. There was a sense of disbelief that everyone shared. Tech, Cassidy, Duck, and Rev slowly turned their heads toward their leader. It was truly Ace who spoke in the room. They weren't going absolutely crazy. The look of tiredness clouded his cool features. His eyelids revealed half of his eyeballs as he was about to drift back into another deep sleep. The pain was too overwhelming and strong for him to want to stay conscious. Everyone, except for Cassidy, raced to his bedside as he released a tedious sigh.

"Stay awake, Ace! Stay awake! Please…" Duck pleaded and buried his face on the back of Ace's palm.

"Ugh… that hurts, Duck," their leader grimly responded. Duck immediately dropped the hand. A small whimper was muffled through Ace's breathing tube. Tech and Rev glared down at Duck. The mallard shrugged his shoulders timidly.

"Ace,-are-you-all-right?" Rev inquired and carefully held Ace's other hand.

"Rev… what do you think? I got crushed by a rooftop and I'm bruised and burnt. I'm hunky-dory." Ace replied sarcastically, but loosened his brows. He didn't want the bird to think that he was chastising him, but merely telling him the honest truth in his opinion about his condition. Another sigh escaped through the rabbit's breathing tube. It hurt more to sigh than to breathe, but the machine pumped oxygen into his lungs every second and a half, forcing the pain to travel through his torso. He might as well just drift off and give up on life. Who knows how long he'll be hooked up on life support? The rabbit felt pain _everywhere_. Even opening up his eyelids was energy draining and he couldn't even begin to imagine moving his neck to properly face his friends. "_Pull_ the plug," Ace quietly requested.

"_What_?" Tech inquired in complete shock. Had his ears failed him? Did Ace just ask them to take his life away? Rev and Duck couldn't make sense out of the words Ace annunciated. The coyote wouldn't believe it, not for a moment. Their perfect role model and leader was asking for his life to be taken away? It didn't make sense to Tech and he wasn't about to make any sense of it.

"_Pull the plug_!" Ace repeated with exasperation.

"We're not going to pull the _plug_ and you're in no condition to even think about doing it yourself!" Duck clenched his fists and jumped up. He found himself shouting at his leader. Even though Ace couldn't do anything to reprimand him, he wasn't taking advantage over his condition. He was letting his sun-burnt feelings get the best of him. He was already horribly damaged emotionally and mentally and any little comment or action could send him off like a ticking time bomb. Duck was noticeably biting his lower beak to keep himself from screaming at their leader furthermore.

Ace remained quiet. He closed his eyes and only wished he had the will to swallow his pride. He knew he was getting closer and closer to letting go each passing second. Agony and pain would be all he would have to look forward for the next… year? He didn't want to wait that long, he didn't want to live like this. The rabbit simply desired to perish under that rooftop hours ago. He was deathly afraid that this was going to happen to him. And now it did. He should have expected it. What else could he say to the team? What else was there to say? He wished to die while everybody begged him to stay alive. How contradictory.

"Ace… we-all-really-need-you-to-be-here-with-us. Please wish to stay. It's really hard to see… you… asking for us to kill you. You'll get better-"

"When, Rev? When? When will I step foot out of this room?" Ace kept his eyes shut closed, but he attempted to move and failed miserably. He was accompanied by more sharp pains. "And what do I have to look forward to when I wake up in this bed for the next year? What, Rev? _What_?"

"Me…" Rev paused and broke his gaze with Ace's pain-filled eyes. He stared back down at the bed sheets, as if ashamed in his reason. "Tech, Duck, Cassidy… _Lexi_ and Zadavia. Your friends. Acmetropolis." Rev answered and eventually chocked back on his tears. Tech softly patted the young bird on his back and looked shamefully back at Ace. Ace lingered in deep thought. It was heartbreaking to him that he hadn't thought about his friends before. He was being selfish and only his thoughts were consumed with himself and his own body. Being leader, he was supposed to put his teammates before him.

"You have no idea what we've been through since you've been under that building and in your coma. And now you wake up wishing only death? That's… _pathetic_." As Tech spoke, Ace felt himself getting dizzier and dizzier. Not only did he feel agonizing pain in all of his limbs and his face, he felt nauseated as well. If he threw up, he'd choke on himself unless somebody did something about it.

"Tech… Rev… Duck… Cassidy, I know you're there. I know what you've been through, trust me on this. Look… I love all of you. I really thought I was going to die…" Ace's voice was almost inaudible as he spoke through his breathing tube, but everyone either understood him by his words or understood him by the tears that formed in his usually hardened eyes. "Duck… hold my hand," he weakly requested of the mallard. Duck hesitated, but did as he was told after exchanging glances with Tech and Rev. Duck had no more harsh words to give Ace. He only wanted to tell Ace how much his near-death experience had emotionally ripped him apart. It ripped everyone apart.

"Duck… stay in there, please. You're stronger than that. I'm… counting on you too, Tech. You two… stay strong for everyone else. I might not make it no matter how strong… my will is." Ace easily lost his grasp with the mallard. The rabbit slowly closed his heavy eyelids to succumb to the dark. "Big man might have other plans for me," he added in a whisper.

"Stay-awake,-Ace! Ace,-stay-awake!" Rev stood up. As soon as he took a step towards him, Tech pulled him back. He was annoyed by his Tech's actions, but he couldn't break through the grasp and wasn't going to try for Ace's sickly sake.

"Rev, baby, let me sleep, please…" As soon as the words escaped from his lips the rabbit submitted to another deep sleep.

"Is-he-dead? Is-he-dead?" Rev inquired bluntly and repeated his thoughtless question.

"_No_! He's just sleeping… let's-"

"Get out of the infirmary? That would be a good idea, Duck. Ace and Cassidy need their rest, especially Ace. That took an incredible amount of effort out of him to speak clearly to you all. The rest of you need your sleep as well. Someone please tell Lexi this," even though Zadavia suggested it, it obviously sounded more of an immediate order. "When you're all well rested, I have a mission to send you on tomorrow since you've declined the vacation. You need to find Slam." Zadavia didn't need to ask again whether they wanted a vacation or not, it was obvious by their looks that they rejected the kind gesture. They had a good reason.

The three Loonatics dragged their feet out of the infirmary. Duck and Tech couldn't stand glancing back at Ace, but Rev did so and tears popped instantly from his eyes. Duck and Tech only stole a glance at their feline friend who was looking out the window, crying silently to herself. It just wasn't right… Ace truly did love them all. That explained his actions in the pizzeria. Rev only wished that before Massive attacked he could have made peace with his friend in front of him. It pained him to continue to think about Ace or Cassidy, or what would become of Ace. When the three of them exited the hospital, Zadavia closed and locked the doors. Rev leaned against the wall and sunk down to sit on his bottom. He continued to weep as he buried his face in his hands. Duck walked coldly past him and Tech. The mallard made his way to the bathroom Lexi had ran off to. Tech knew that Duck wouldn't be particularly friendly to the bunny, but Rev was crying hysterically before him, he couldn't just leave him there. Rev was his first priority and would always be from here on out. Tech released a wearing sigh, but he quickly replaced his blank expression with a small smile for his roadrunner pal. The coyote knelt down and placed his arm under Rev's knees and the other under his shoulders. He stood up and held his friend bridal style.

"Okay, Rev, it's time to go to sleep," Tech quietly told him. Rev's sobs became less and less audible as Tech walked toward his room and placed him on his bed.

"Ace-said-he-might-die! Ace-said-he-might-die! Ace-said-he-might-die!" Rev pulled on Tech's elbows to bring him closer as he told him this. Rev's tired eyes were rimmed with a bright red from all the tears he cried. Duck, Tech, and Lexi's eyes were all rimmed with a red color tears left behind as evidence. Tech's ogles widened at Rev's speech and he briefly thought how he would deal with the bird's paranoia. He would just have to tell him the harsh truth.

"And he might actually _die_, Rev! And he might actually die…" Tech wished he could swallow his words, but he simply couldn't just take them back. He now loathed himself. Why did Ace tell him and Duck to be strong for everybody else? Tech had no previous experience under these circumstances. Those were his leader's wishes, and he would implement them as best as he could. The word 'die' probably echoed through the bird's mind at the moment. It was too strong of word to only be one syllable. Tech looked away from Rev's teary eyes as he sat down at the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry," he meekly said.

Rev couldn't imagine being alone sleeping tonight, or day. The sun was beginning to rise just as their problems were. The roadrunner finally sputtered out of his burning inquiry. "Tech… can you stay here with me? Just for…" Rev couldn't let himself continue. He felt utterly mortified by just asking the question. The roadrunner could promise on his life that he wasn't thinking about committing any lewd acts with the coyote, he just wanted a friend nearby him. Was that so bad?

Tech understood Rev's need for a friend near him for today. He didn't mind complying with the bird's wishes. It was from now until their death dates that the coyote decided to turn over a new leaf. He was going to stop senselessly teasing the bird. He was going to come to his aid and needs more often. Rev always came to him whenever and however, how come he never did the same? Tech stepped out of his slippers and laid himself down on Rev's bed. The roadrunner turned on his side to face his friend. He was grateful that Tech understood his empty void and the hole in his heart. Tech turned his head to face Rev with a look of understanding. Rev's eyes widened slightly and he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. His heart skipped beats. The moment seemed everlasting and it was then that Rev thought that he wouldn't give this moment with Tech for anything else.

"Thanks,-Tech," Rev quickly looked down at his pillow. It was growing a bit awkward between the two of them as he continued to look back at the coyote.

Tech slightly raised a brow at Rev's reaction. Was he embarrassed? Could their actions be misunderstood as something else deeper in their relationship? In the back of his mind, Tech was just thankful that they were still friends and Rev still looked at him the same way as he did before. He was mostly thankful for the clear fact that Rev was physically unscathed. The coyote would have probably killed himself if Rev shared the same fate as Cassidy or Ace. Tech was already feeling terribly guilty for Rev's emotional tare. The bird was _always_ so happy and to see him undeniably depressed because of Ace didn't seem… ethical. He wished more than anything that he could change or predict what had happened last night. The coyote even surprised himself when he turned to lay on his side as he pulled the roadster closer to him.

"Ace will make it. I think it'll be a slow and steady process, but he will." Tech nodded his head as he spoke and then loosened his grasp around Rev's torso.

"Hey… Tech, I-think-we're-a-little-too-close," the roadrunner timidly told his friend. He wasn't quite sure of himself if he wanted to pull further away from Tech or get even closer to him. It felt comforting to be close to Tech, but he knew it was wrong. Tech was always big on what was wrong and what was right. Did he have any thoughts about it?

Tech wasn't particularly thinking about what Rev had said or about his actions. The coyote was lost in his thoughts consistent of the roadrunner in front of him. He thanked the lord for sparing Rev and leaving him unscathed in the roof collapse accident. Tech still felt a sharp pain in his chest for each breath he took ever since Duck, Cassidy, and Lexi had crashed into him when Ace was blasting all of them out of the pizzeria. Tech was a tad bit bulkier than his friend and he thanked his conscience for making the right decision and sparing Rev from the hit. More damage might have been caused to him. The coyote came back to reality when Rev shook his shoulder and repeated himself. Tech ignored his comment and simply stared at the blue and purple feathered bird.

"Rev, I'm so glad you're not hurt… you mean more to me than anything else. Your happiness and wellbeing mean more to me than anyone or anything else," Tech was incredibly exhausted by the entire day. His comment almost sounded robotic. The night before the incident he locked himself up in the lab, then the excruciating long wait Zadavia made everyone endure, his instincts getting the best of him over Rev, the unsuspecting realization of Cassidy, his poorly constructed apology that took almost an hour to implement, and then Ace and Cassidy's near-death experience. Couldn't he just lay here with Rev for as long as he wanted? Too much had happened to him to think about anything else.

"Even-more-than-the-lab?" Rev excitedly questioned. For a moment he could forget about everything else so easily because of Tech's change of heart attitude. He knew that the coyote might not respond to him because he was slowly drifting off to sleep just as Ace did. The small similarity alone made Rev's smile turn upside down.

Tech blinked his bloodshot eyes and tried to stay awake a little while for Rev before completely falling in a deep sleep. "Of course more than the lab… Rev… I … la…… you," Tech fell victim to his own tiredness and fell fast asleep over Rev's head.

Rev mentally cursed at how comfortable his bed must have been for Tech to fall asleep so fast. What was the coyote going to say? He what-him? The roadrunner's thoughts swarmed relentlessly as he tried to search for a sensible answer, but nothing came to his mind. _'Darn-it,-Tech!'_ he playfully thought to himself as he decided to hurriedly nap in the coyote's arms before he woke up and probably came to his senses. He'd have to savor the moment because this would surely not happen more than twice.

Orange triangle.

Duck had said nothing to Lexi when he placed her in her own bedroom. He found her in the bathroom, passed out with a pool of tears nearby her face. The mallard completely understood. Although despite all that had happened, he wished she was there when Ace awoke for a brief time. Once he did place her in her bed, he promptly left the room and hurried himself to his own. His thoughts were ruthless as they only consisted of his dearly loved leader, Ace. Duck slowly took off his cool clothes he wore for the night that did _not_ fit the occasion. The mallard stepped into his pajamas and lethargically pulled on his hat, sleeping mask, and headphones. Duck languidly lied down on his bed and pulled the sheets over his body. Why even be a superhero if he wasn't emotionally prepared for such a thing to happen to him? Was _anyone_ prepared for this? What is a superhero that couldn't move on past the fall of another teammate? A coward. A weakling. Duck was to be convinced otherwise.

'_I thought I was stronger than that. I thought I was stronger than all of that,'_ Duck thought to himself unfeelingly. He always assumed that he was mentally prepared for anything that could happen to him or the team when he joined to form the Loonatics. Renewed tears travelled down the mallard's face and beak. He couldn't believe that Ace had told him and Tech to be strong for everyone else. He couldn't even be strong for himself! What kind of hero is he supposed to be for everyone else? And where was Slam? Duck's guess was a good as anyone else's. _'Ace… how could you do that to everybody? We all loved you… damn it all!' _Duck sat up straight and threw his headphones off of his head. It aimlessly hit… nothing and fell on the carpet with a thud. Duck heard a loud, high pitched, whimper at the foot of his bed. Duck pulled down his sleeping mask to see nothing.

"_Cassidy_?" Duck knew better now than to attack. His eyes widened at the possibility. Who else could it have been? The thought of the cat in his room watching him excited the mallard a bit.

"Yeah…" was the response that came from virtually nowhere until Cassidy revealed herself in her hospital robe he last saw her in. "Duck… sorry, I wanted to-"

"Hurry and get in bed before I change my mind…" Duck interrupted the feline and frigidly said. He still felt hurt from her and Tech's love gaze they have given each other earlier. Nonetheless, he held unusual feelings for the cat that ran deeper than he held for Ace, which he thought was nearly impossible. Cassidy limped over to the side of Duck's bed and seated herself. Duck rolled his eyes and kicked the sheets off of him. The mallard crawled over behind Cassidy and pulled her from under her shoulders up next to him. "Now, what is it?" he acted as though he didn't care to hear out Cassidy, but it pained him to act so rude to the feline, even though he didn't want to, he did anyways. He couldn't explain his behavior if his life counted on it.

Cassidy twiddled with her thumbs and wished she had thought about her speech a bit more before she fazed through Duck's room and turned invisible. "It's… I… I just wanted to… um," Cassidy's face turned as bright as a tomato as she bit down on her lower lip.

"Wanted to tell me how brave, handsome, and brilliant I am? Oh, but you shouldn't have… oh, but then again, why must I be modest when I _am_?" Duck chuckled aloud to himself. He was literally his own audience. Cassidy's mouth hung open in awe at the Duck's self-centeredness. It was sadly one of Duck's attempts to prove how he was strong and that he could move on past Ace's conditions. That's what Ace wanted him to do anyways, right? After Duck's actions in the hospital, she was a bit surprised to see him acting like himself. Or was he just faking it for her sake? She would never know because she was never going to ask.

"Hey, wait a second! That's not what I was going to say!" Cassidy pointed her finger at Duck's chest and slightly pressed her index finger. Duck puffed up his chest and broke out in a laugh. He figured out it was easy to fluster the cat. Plus she looked irrefutably cute when she was confused and irritated at the same time. Cassidy soon began to giggle at Duck's tease. "I wanted to say sorry, Duck," she finally said after the two of them had stopped laughing joyfully.

Duck caught his breath and straightened up. Again with the apologies? They were becoming only a nuisance now. "For what?" his voice became deafeningly sharper when he asked for a clarification.

"You begged and begged for my trust when I was under the rooftop with Ace. I thought I could make it out myself, but then I realized that I was just too weak to even move. I only didn't listen to you before because I was afraid that Ace would…" Cassidy stopped herself from saying the inappropriate 'd' word. She stared down at her lap and began twiddling her thumbs again.

"How old are you, Cass?" Duck curiously inquired before answering to her apology. He cocked up a brow and concocted a small speech in the back of his head.

"I'm… fifteen," she timidly answered. Her voice was a small whisper, almost inaudible.

Duck's eyes widened and his heart sank. He blew off his speech. His dear feline friend was only fifteen years of age? She should be at school, not fighting fearsome villains alongside the Loonatics. Duck couldn't reverse Zadavia's decision, and he honestly wouldn't want to. He had fallen too hard for the feline to do so. "Well, that's too bad. I guess you can't consent to sex," Duck sighed depressingly and received an elbow to the side of his rib. By all means, the mallard was truly joking by his inapt comment. "_Hey_! What was that for? What did I say?" he attempted to act innocent, but the plan backfired as he broke out in a hysterical laugh.

"How could you say that? You're so mean!" Cassidy's cheeks burned out of embarrassment and her face turned another bright scarlet color. She briefly forgot about her broken foot as she tried to stand on her own to leave Duck's room. The cat instantly fell over and collapsed on Duck's carpet when she tried to march out of the room. "Ah!" she yelled out as she hit the floor with a thud. She was in no condition to walk and worse to fall.

Duck was too consumed in his laughter to notice her leave his bedside and walk on her own. He quickly snapped out of his trance and jumped off of his bed to hold Cassidy in his arms bridal style when he heard her whimper. "Cass, don't go trying to walk on your own. You came to my room to apologize for something so meaningless now. I should take you back to the infirmary," Duck took a step toward the exit of his room. Cassidy hung her head low. She should have expected the mallard wasn't going to risk getting caught with an underage person in his bedroom. The cat only wanted what Rev wanted as well. She didn't want to be in the hospital room with Ace next to her, she wanted to be with Duck and sleep in his comforting grasp. Without warning, Duck twirled around back towards his bed.

"But I won't!" he happily stated and tucked the young teen in his bed. Duck quickly tucked himself next to her.

Cassidy was surprised with her failing ethics, but she was perfectly fine with being in Danger Duck's bedroom instead of the infirmary where she should have been. It was probably already a sin to sneak out of the hospital and sneak into Duck's room, but she couldn't help herself. She already knew that her reason was preposterous. It was because she didn't come to his room to apologize, she only came to see her hero. "Duck, I lied. I made that up. I just wanted to see you," she admitted, a bit ashamed in herself.

"I know, Cass. I know," Duck pulled the cat under his chin and closer to him. He ran his fingers through her flat, pink hair that was hard to miss. Cassidy rested the side of her face and her hands on the mallard's chest. "Cass… I think I love you. And it hasn't even been a day," Duck whispered and stared down at the feline who stole his heart.

"Duck… I think I… you, too," Cassidy's words were muffled as she pressed her face in the mallard's chest a bit more. Duck didn't mind, but he didn't catch a key word that would piece together her sentence.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Duck quizzically asked. There was a pause and then Duck could feel slow breathing on his chest. She had fallen asleep. He didn't blame her. The day seemed to last forever and she evidently went through more than he did. Duck wasn't the one to exactly call out people and confront them, but perhaps he would ask her to repeat herself when they woke up together in the… afternoon. The mallard snuggled up a bit closer to her unusually cold body. He pulled the sheets up over their shoulders and fell fast asleep, surrendering to his own fatigue.


	6. DangerCoyote! I

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. **

Thank you for the reviews, PG & Yunno! Here's another chapter of the story, if my imagination doesn't have any better plans, the story should end with about _ten_ chapters. Enjoy! R&R, please! Thanks for your opinion Yunno. I don't exactly go FULL ON with the gay pairing of TechxRev, I just like fluffing it and it seems completely cute to me, but I swear, it won't get any dirtier or inappropriate as it did in Chapter 5! And yes, Duck will respect Cassidy's age! Please enjoy. I take pleasure in your story too, Yunno!

Chapter 6: Danger-Coyote! I

Orange triangle. Green triangle. (Am I allowed to use both at the same time?)

"_Danger_ _Duck_, wake up, right now!" Zadavia's voice seamlessly roared through his room. The mallard awoke in an instant. For a split second, he knew he wouldn't take too kindly in looking into the eyes of the princess. She would sure be furious at his inapt actions to keep Cassidy in his room rather than returning her to the hospital. And even though it was her that came to his room, it would be his fault since he was older than her. Oh, women…

Cassidy continued to sleep soundly, oblivious to Zadavia's voice and enragement. The mallard undid his loose grip around Cassidy's body and his torso flung straight up and he stared straight at the princess, standing before the foot of his bed. "Oh, well, morning, Zadavia. How have you've been? I've been fine, really, and so has Cass, which is why I wanted to say that _nothing_ happened between the both of us last night! Nothing, nothing at all, and-" Duck was cut off, and found it unusually uncomfortable to get cut off by their supervisor. He was timidly attempting to run through his quick explanation of what happened last night, and in fact, he was telling the truth, but for Zadavia to believe him, he knew Cassidy would have to wake up and tell her.

"_And_ you _will_ be punished for your actions and _clear_ intentions once I figure out a way to perfectly reprimand you, Duck! Get out of bed _right now_!" Zadavia growled as she issued her order. Duck sighed depressingly and stole a gander at Cassidy's peaceful features. "_Duck_…" Zadavia repeated and bit the bottom of her lip to keep herself from wildly cursing and threatening the duck. Deep inside, she did feel awful for taking such aggressive action, but she felt it was necessary if her intuition proved true. Her expression softened only for a moment when Duck hopped out of bed, but he did stop to tuck Cassidy in. Zadavia felt warmth around her heart and for a moment she could understand the two of them. It was still wrong and Duck could be charged as a felon if she called the police department. "I'll meet you in the hospital room, Duck," she added. The princess walked over to Cassidy's side and gently carried the feline in her hands and hurriedly made her way out of the mallard's room. The cat still needed medical attention.

Duck sighed as he saw Zadavia carry _his_ princess away. Why was Cassidy so young? Duck couldn't believe the questions his mind came about with. There were questions that just couldn't be answered. It was what it was. He couldn't change Cassidy's age or birth date. There was no possible way. After sulking over his bed for a few minutes, Duck quacked out of his pajamas and into his uniform in the closet. The mallard easily pulled out the hanger and indolently made his way out of his own room. Overall, he prayed that Cassidy wouldn't get in trouble. It was solely his fault for not being the adult of the two and bringing her back to her hospital bed. For once, Duck wanted to protect someone else and practically cover up for them. Was that what love did to you? The mallard slowly walked toward the hospital, finding no special interest in his destination. Oh great, just another mission without their gallant leader to guide them through every step of the way, and sharp pains in his stomach and chest section wringed when he thought about his leader, his best friend. The mallard purposely brushed off the thought of him in vain. Duck perked up when he noticed Tech wasn't too far behind him, and the coyote was also in his uniform. Someone to take his mind off of things. Although, he looked to be as glum as he pictured himself when Zadavia erupted in his room. He secretly wondered if Tech knew of his inaptness with Cassidy.

"Hey, Einstein," Duck casually called out behind him and waited for the coyote to catch up and tower over him. Tech gave no response to the remark and he dragged on warily. Duck raised a brow at Tech's behavior and decided to question him. "What's the matter, Tech? You seem down, and you're usually serious about _some_ invention," Duck raised a brow and stopped in his tracks when Tech did. Tech's face grew to a worrisome expression. The coyote opened his mouth, and then closed it. The mallard thought the genius was simply hesitating or thinking thoroughly before speaking, but instead, the coyote sneezed and several purple feathers flew out of his mouth. Duck took in a deep gasp and slammed himself against the wall while backing away from his friend, or predator.

"_Tech_! How could you? Where's Rev? What ha-happened to him? Answer me, Einstein!" A switched flipped in the mallard's head. He approached the coyote and shoved his supposed friend up against the wall, holding him up by his shoulders. It was easy for Duck to accomplish this even through his vertically challenged dilemma.

"Duck, stop! It was an accident… I got hungry!"

"So, you _ate_ Rev?!"

"No! I didn't eat him!"

"Then why do I see feathers, _huh_?!"

Tech helplessly squirmed from his uncomfortable position Duck put him in. The coyote sighed and stared up at the ceiling, praying for the understanding he hoped to receive from the mallard. "I got hungry… and-"

"And ate your best friend?"

"Let me finish!" Tech had enough of the mallard's fake care. It was just another reason to pin him against the wall and get angry. He was just someone for Duck to take his emotional disturbance out on. At the same time, the coyote didn't mind as much as he thought he would. He would have probably done the same thing. Tech swatted Duck's hands off of his shoulders and stood tall, towering over the Duck while he stood on his two feet. "Okay, I was sleeping in Rev's room, and-"

"_What_? The two of you? Sleeping together? In one room? On the same bed?" Duck placed his hands on his head in shock. Was Tech's act more or just as a disturbing as his act with Cassidy? Now that Ace wasn't in commission, did everyone stop abiding by the basic rules of the tower?

Tech rolled his eyes and sighed. He should have expected getting repeatedly interrupted by Duck. "_Yes_, in the same room and bed," he clarified with exasperation. The coyote dragged on, figuring the sooner he got it out the sooner he would feel a little less guilty from keeping it to himself. "Now, I was dreaming and I guess I was hungry at the same time. I woke up trying to eat Rev's tail…" Tech continued to stare up at the ceiling, not wanting to see the reaction form on Duck's face. Was it so necessary? The coyote already felt morally and ethically bad enough about it. That was the last and first time he would sleep with the roadster. "Rev's in the hospital, let's hurry, Duck," Tech looked straight ahead and continued to trot through the hallway.

Duck sighed and truly felt… bad for the bird. Rev's tail always seemed so neat and funny to bat around. He wondered if there were still any feathers left on the tail. After a lifetime, the two of them reached the entrance to the sanatorium. Or as well known to Duck, Ace's bedroom. The door opened in their presence and the two of them stepped in. Ace was sleeping soundly on their left. He didn't look to be in as much pain as he was yesterday. A small smile could even be spotted on his face. Duck was interested in questioning the bunny when he awoke… if he awoke. Hopefully he was on some kind of pain numbing medication now. The look in his depressed ogles when he nitpicked about his pain made the mallard cringe and created hot tears in his eyes. Cassidy was also sleeping on a hospital bed a few yards away from him. Rev and Lexi stood next to Zadavia. Rev had his tail wrapped up in a cast and it drooped downward. Both roadster and bunny looked sickly. Lexi had been particularly quiet ever since late last night. Tech quickly approached the bird, but Zadavia raised her arm in front of Rev, signaling Tech to stop and as hurtful as it was, to stay away. The princess took a step toward the two Loonatics. It didn't look like Zadavia was too happy about Tech and Rev sleeping in the same room as well. Misery loved its company. Duck didn't feel as bad about his act when he found out about Tech and Rev's.

"Rev and Lexi are much too sick to accompany you on this mission. They suffer from flu-like symptoms and will stay here in the hospital until you return," Zadavia explained with complete seriousness in her eyes. She held up a stern composure. Tech stood on his tip toes to look over Zadavia's shoulders and make some sort of eye contact with his favorite roadster. Rev was staring down at the ground with such a sad and lonely expression it made him want to whimper. He knew he caused that expression and the drooping tail. It flustered him that Zadavia wouldn't let him approach his friend. What was running through his mind when he was dreaming? Tech blinked away tears and he tried to listen to Zadavia. If Ace were alive… If Ace was awake, he would be able to handle the situation properly and have Rev smiling in no time. Because their leader was just so magical like that, Tech naively thought to himself. He truly believed Ace's leadership skills to be magical now. And he knew he sounded absurd.

"Tech, are you paying attention?" Zadavia inquired hardheartedly. Her fists clenched. She had enough of the Loonatics not paying a mind to her. Just because Ace was out of commission, it didn't excuse _all_ of their behavioral issues. She only demanded the greater good of all situations from them.

"Yes, Zadavia," Tech robotically responded as his tail and ears drooped. The lie slipped easily through his teeth. He hadn't a clue what she just said. Duck placed a comforting hand on the coyote's shoulder and felt sympathetic toward him. He felt just as guilty for his actions with Cassidy. He understood. Zadavia more than likely wouldn't allow Duck to wake Cassidy to talk to her.

"If you can't get Slam back for some reason, at least know where he is and what his condition is. Good luck, to the two of you," Zadavia nodded her head at them and expected answers and a mission well done from the both of them. She quickly chose to lower her standards since it was only the duck and the coyote working together. They were quite an odd combination.

"Good luck, Tech!" Rev smiled and waved through the pain his tail caused him. His brows raised and all of his features brightened up in a second. It amazed Tech how good Rev was at being… happy? It wasn't that Tech had actually eaten all of his tail, it was that most, if not all, of his feathers were now gone.

Tech took another step toward Rev, trying to go around Zadavia. She stepped in front of him immediately. The coyote unintentionally gave her sad puppy dog eyes and he released a whimper. Tech spun around with his head hung low and marched out of the hospital, without taking another glance at how peaceful Ace looked. He felt loathing feelings fabricate in his insides toward Zadavia. What was her purpose? It wasn't like he was going to further harm Rev… The roadrunner was his _best_ and sometimes _only_ friend. He would never lay so much as a hand on him, or misplace a feather, but he inadvertently did last night. He wished more than anything that the feathers would grow back and that he had eaten something before he slept in the same bed with the roadrunner. And all Tech knew of Rev's condition was that a huge chunk of his feathers were missing because of him, and that he was burning up, but also had flu-like symptoms such as aches and pains almost everywhere. Lexi shared the same symptoms. The coyote honestly thought it was simply because of the loss of their leader. Even though he was alive, in a sense, he was gone.

Duck looked regretfully at the coyote as if he had done something to him to feel guilty about. He followed Tech outside of the hospital, but not without stealing another glance at Ace. _'Oh, Ace… please… come back. You said that I'm not like this, but I am.' _A sigh escaped his beak and the mallard fully exited the dreaded hospital that was the cause of all of his emotional uneasiness and breakdowns. Then again, hospitals just seemed to be a magnet for that kind of stuff. When the door closed behind, Duck continued to follow Tech to his laboratory. It reminded him that he still needed to give Cassidy some gadgets the rest of the team used. The thought of the cat gave him stomach cramps. The memories came back to him when she was under the rooftop, holding on to their dear leader. _'I'll just breakdown again if I keep thinking about it. This'll all be something of the past… I hope,'_ Duck sighed, but it sounded more of an infuriated huff.

"Tech," Duck simply pronounced the one syllable name with an injected whine to the tone of his voice. The coyote looked back at him and stopped what he was doing. He was packing some of his inventions in a backpack and putting on his jetpack and about to hand the mallard's jetpack. Tech raised his brows and waited for the mallard's complaints. The mallard sighed and unwisely chose to inquire his friend if he knew of his mishap the other night. "Do you know why Zadavia's upset with me?"

"No, why?" Tech asked back. He took a step closer toward the duck and easily towered over him, looking down at him. He didn't even know the princess was upset with him in the first place.

"Well… Cassidy came to my room to sleep with me. And that's _all_ we did! Sleep together, nothing else. And then Zadavia found out and now I probably won't be able to watch the tube or step foot near a child until _fifteen hundred_ years," Duck shrugged his shoulders and for a moment found nothing wrong of his act. Tech felt petrified. He couldn't believe the mallard and the cookie-delivering cat's actions. After a few seconds of contemplating, Tech felt his reaction would be perfectly apposite.

Tech withdrew his right hand and then slapped the mallard's bill as hard as he could. Duck's beak circled his head and made him dizzy until he regained his balance and stopped his beak from further spinning. Duck took a few steps back. He was disorientated by the impulsive slap. The mallard instantly regretted his decision of telling Tech. Cassidy and he seemed to have some kind of history together. So, what? She delivered cookies to him when she was like… nine? Duck didn't understand the principle of his actions that offended the coyote.

"What did I do?" he innocently inquired. He was enraged at the coyote, but he was more afraid of him.

"You _slept_ with Cassidy? That's what you said, and that's exactly what you did, isn't it?" Tech shouted at the mallard, only hopping mad at the duck. There wasn't a voice inside him that told him to understand or go easy.

"That _is_ it! You make it sound like I actually had sex with her, and I didn't! We only slept on the same bed. You know, I could ask you the same question about you and Rev! Besides, Cassidy came to _me_, Buck-o!" Duck felt somewhat proud of his last statement. She had come to him. It wasn't like Duck smuggled her out of the hospital. The mallard crossed his arms over his chest. He predicted it would be especially hard for him cooperate with the raging canine for the mission.

Tech dropped his guard. His ears and tail drooped once again at the thought of Rev. It was then he realized that Duck _did_ care about Rev. After all, Rev was his sidekick. How did the bird make his way through his heart in the first place? It baffled him at times. Still, Tech thought of Cassidy as his little sister and his responsibility. She was for the time-being when she was lost at the institute. The coyote dismissed the fact that Cassidy came to him. Why should he believe Duck? It was probably a lie. Tech felt a tug at his heart. He wished more than anything again that Ace was awake and well…

"What you did was still morally wrong and you could go to prison, Duck! Be careful what you do around Cassidy, or I'll take you in myself," Tech surely would take affirmative action if he saw Duck do anything inapt around his favorite cat. His voice was firm and projected a noticeable warning to the mallard. The coyote wouldn't enjoy having to work with Duck on this particular mission. He would have appreciated it if Duck took it more as a threat than just some warning.

"And Rev _is_ my friend, and if you do anything else to him, maybe you'll be missing some of your _fur_, or that nice bushy tail of yours! Or maybe I'll just go for those big ears!" Duck crossed his arms and couldn't believe the gravity Tech was taking the situation to. Two could play at that game, but Duck was honestly worried about his sidekick. What _else_ would the coyote do to him? All Rev ever wanted was for Tech to be happy and assist him with anything, anything at all. And Tech was going to repay his friend by mistreating him and waking up 'accidentally' confusing the roadster for food? None of that was going to continue to happen on Danger Duck's watch.

Tech and Duck spun away from each other. Duck marched out of the lab while Tech tended to one of his inventions, tweaking them just a bit before the two of took off. They would probably find massive where Slam was being captive. Tech had blanked out when Zadavia explained where Slam was hidden based on Rev's GPS. He would have to ask the mallard to repeat what she had said, and he would not look forward to admitting his absentmindedness. Just before Duck approached the lab doors, he looked back at the coyote remorsefully. Tech heard his footsteps come to a halt and he looked back as well. Tech gave Duck the same look of contrite and remorse. The two of them never really got along well enough to work together or be sent out on a mission. Ace never paired the two of them up. The look they shared was a fleeting look of sorry and share. They both shared the same feelings of worry and hurt Ace caused. They felt the weight of Ace's expectations that they would hold the team together. And now look. Duck was found on the same bed with a minor and Tech had accidentally chewed off almost all of Rev's feathers on his tail. Duck and Tech also shared the same thoughts. Hopefully they could work together hard enough and use team work to retrieve Slam back. They would probably incidentally meet up with Massive once again, and neither of them had a plan constructed to take them down. That was always Ace's job.

But for now, it was theirs too. 


	7. DangerCoyote! II

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed.**

Enjoy the chapter! Yes, I did watch Cape Duck several times and every episode, except for the season three. Sorry for making the last chapter pretty short and filled with feelings. I think this is more… plot-like? Not sure. You be the judge. I hope I didn't go too fast with this chapter. R&R! This isn't quite the last chapter… still got just one or two more to go. It seems like it took me forever to get this up, I like, totally hated everything about this chapter. (The song I used is _Tell it to my Heart by Taylor Dayne's_ 80s song in italics near the end. There's a video of the Loonatics on YouTube by that song. I don't think it particularly fits, but that's what inspired me to write the rest of the chapter.)

Chapter 7: Danger-Coyote! II

"He's not dead. He's fallen into another coma. I thought they would be more useful as of now. The opposite has happened. How could I be wrong? Why are they so weak without him?" A shaky voice demanded to know. The cat was simply trying to keep himself from exploding into a tantrum at the gravity manipulator. The tall cat stood and due to his suite, his fur was a pitch black color. His eyeballs were a blood red color and he wore a white open lab coat.

"Virgo, calm down; I thought I would be able to kill that rabbit! But he made it out because of _your _sister!" Massive was taking his chances with the cat and back talked him. Even though Virgo was clearly out to kill his sister and put the rest of the Loonatics out of commission, the subject was delicate. The male automatically regretted it when he watched the cat's shoulders shake, enraged at his comment. "They're all vulnerable right now. I can take him out now!" he added, hoping Virgo would overlook his comment.

"_Don't_," Virgo grimly replied. The cat rationalized with himself. If the Loonatics were as bad as they were with their leader badly injured, then what good would they be if he was dead? It didn't make sense to kill _anyone_ anymore. He decided to ignore Massive's remark about his sister, but he would never forget. It was unbearable for the super genius to work with this super incompetent! And plus his hormonally-challenged sisters.

"Why not? Rage is strong and they'll unlock their powers to a whole new extent! That's enough to power the spaceship!" Another cat butted into the conversation. Her thick British accent was easily detected in her low toned voice. The cat was younger than Virgo by only a few years, but matched him in height. She was fitted in a black suite matching her brother's. Her hot pink hair reached down to her waist, consisting of thick curls.

"Perhaps the opposite will happen. It is already happening now. Their leader _must_ be in perfect health. I have an assignment for all of you. Get Abby."

"Already here!" called out an excited and high pitched voice, another cat, younger than the female, but older than their sister, Cassidy. You guessed it, her attire matched that of her siblings, excluding the white lab coat Virgo wore to, she believed, to show off. Her flat hair ended at the bottom of her neck and she stood several inches below her sister and brother.

"All right…" Virgo paused and spun his chair around to face his sisters and Massive. He turned to the oldest first. "Delia, you must break into their tower and break into their hospital. That is when you'll have to use this specialized stun gun I created to keep everybody down, but they will be conscious. Even get that princess. Then, you will use the Alleviate Gun 3467. You must shoot everybody there, _except_ for the princess. That should restore the Loonatics to full health since they are absolutely _worthless_ without their leader." Virgo stood up and pulled the two expert pistols from a box nearby next to his keyboard. He gingerly handed them to the older of the two sisters. "Of course, afterwards, you must bag them and bring them here. You may get going now."

"Whatever you say, bro!" Delia ran out of the lab and took flight, heading straight toward the Loonatic's headquarters. The cat was overly confident in herself, but usually proved herself worthy of walking the talk. She was _going_ to implement her assignment to its success.

"Massive, be _sure_ to lead and capture that mangy _mutt_ and that overgrown _mallard_! They are such a nuisance and I feel them getting closer and closer here for their beastly friend," Virgo nodded at the male and he took off, using his gravity fly with haste toward the coyote and duck. The cat turned his direction to his second youngest sister. "Abby, you're task is simple. Follow Delia and be sure that the Freleng princess is hidden somewhere where they'd last think to see her. The effects of the stun gun should last for about half a dozen hours. That's more than enough time. Shoot her again if you feel the need to."

"All right, Virgo! You can definitely count on me!" squealed the cat. She activated her jetpack and took off with another stun gun. Virgo smiled and then chuckled at her actions. He loved how everyone followed his orders. Being a super genius had its quirks.

The cat had no worries about the coyote. His own intelligence surpassed that of the coyote's. "If all goes according to plan… I'll have my memories safely returned by Mallory. And she will decide the fate of Acmetropolis or me. I'll do whatever she asks of me. If that means eliminating her mentor I will gladly execute that." Virgo found himself manically laughing to himself as he slumped over his keyboard of his laboratory. He was now a classic villain, but not by choice. After the meteor had strike, he knew he lost apart of himself that was all good. The cat was easily taken under Mastermind's wing as her assistant. Then there was an accident in the laboratory as Mastermind attempted to take away all of Virgo's brainpower. Instead she only took his memories that were precious and dear to him. With twists and turns in the deal, Mastermind decided to keep the cat and use him and his sisters to eliminate the Loonatics and power up a space ship that he would design to do something that even Virgo did not know. And he didn't particularly care. Losing his memories, he had forgotten all about Cassidy, his youngest sister. They were apart by almost twenty years. Even though he didn't care about her welfare, something tugged at his heart that told him that she meant something to him. Unfortunately, that small voice was constantly shoved down.

Yellow triangle.

"Cassidy must hate me. Ace must hate me as well! Is _everyone_ mad at me?!" Lexi buried her face in her hands and immediately began to weep. Rev sat closely next to her and continued to try to calm down the rabbit for the past hour. There was almost no use. She kept bringing up the same things over and over again and dismissing everything he said to her. The two of them sat uncomfortably in plastic chairs next to Ace's hospital bed. It was starting to get sickening to look at him now, Rev thought. What if he never woke up? Would that sleeping face be the last memory he would have of Ace? Could it be…?

"No-one's-mad-at-you,-Lexi! Please-please-please-please-please-stop-blaming-yourself! We-all-really-really-understand-what-you-did. Even-Cassidy-doesn't-mind,-and-I'm-sure-Ace-understands-perfectly!" Rev couldn't help the speed of speech. He interrupted his own thoughts. All he wanted to do was get his words out across to her once again. The roadster placed a comforting arm around Lexi and hugged her. He didn't know what else to say. He was running out of things to say, if Lexi was going to continue to blame herself then what could he do about it? Even though Duck was harsh with his words and Tech was always so in touch with reality, he wished one of the two were here to contain Lexi. The only person he was good at was consoling his brother. He could agree a hundred percent that he would be crying hysterically if he had done what Lexi accidentally did.

"I love you, Ace… I didn't mean to hurt you!" Lexi continued to sob. The cries brought tears to Rev's eyes. This was a lot different than when he would help his brother get over break-ups or bullies. It was unlike since he too was emotionally and mentally damaged and moved by Ace's actions. He wanted someone to console him as well. He didn't care if Tech had eaten most of his tail, he wanted nobody else, but him. Ace was always the flawless one out of everyone. The picture looked completely wrong before him. _If only it were anyone else… _Rev found Ace to be too special to suffer the kind of pain he was in. No one deserved it. So, why was it him?Cassidy opened her eyes and awoke to the sobs belonging to Lexi. She kept her eyes closed. She didn't want Lexi to see her awake and then apologize to her. To the fifteen year old, it was easier for her to not be reminded of the fateful night by the apology. Of course, Cassidy's eyelids fluttered opened when she heard a dangerously familiar voice talk to Lexi. And it wasn't Zadavia's.

"_I_ won't mean to hurt you, too!" A tall cat took her time to make her entrance through the hospital. The door was unlocked, so it opened to her presence. Her black tail slowly flickered behind her. Lexi and Rev immediately saw the resemblance in the cat with Cassidy by her pink hair. Other than that, she looked nothing like Cassidy. She had a well-developed chest, curves, and abnormally bright red eyes and black fur, probably just apart of her suite.

Lexi and Rev jumped from their seat and their eyes began to glow according to their uniform color. "What do _you_ want?" Lexi growled at the feline, ready to put her life on the line for Ace. She wasn't going to let this random intruder so much as misplace a hair of his if she could do anything about it.

"I want _all_ of you in perfect health! You all need to do a _little_ something for me!" At first, Delia aimed her gun and then lowered her arms when she saw them jump from their seats before their leader. Then she unlinked her arms and started to laugh crazily at herself. She was used to the blood and gore of it all. She actually liked to fight and defeat her opponents. It gave her the adrenaline rush that _teamwork_ couldn't give. It was satiating.

"What-are-you-talking-about?" Rev inquired and quickly glanced back at Cassidy, noticing that she was awake and paling at the sight of the cat. It had to be her sister she was talking to Ace about just yesterday! The thought of his leader immediately made him lose his determination. What could they possibly do against her? How could they protect their gallant leader without Zadavia or the rest of the team?

"I'm talking about this!" Delia decided that she had talked and communicated with them enough now. She didn't want to spend another moment with these _Loonatics_. They certainly were annoying, but supposedly powerful. Her brother was right though, they were ruined mentally. The cat pointed, aimed, and shot both of them when a smile tugged at her lips.

The two of them instantly dropped down to the ground and began writhing on the floor in pain due to the stun gun. They tried to fight against it, but their will power wasn't enough. It was virtually impossible. The gun was nothing they had ever been shot with before. Eventually the two of them stopped fighting the electrical shock left them paralyzed, but barely awake in pain. Cassidy gasped at the sight of her teammates falling to the floor. Despite her broken foot the feline ripped off her IV and jumped out of the bed, being sure to land on her uninjured foot. Delia laughed at her efforts and simply shot her sister without thinking twice and without taking much of aim. Cassidy dropped to the floor between Rev and Lexi.

"What do you want, Delia?!" she questioned angrily, blinking away tears. Just because her sister apparently wanted her and her friends dead, that didn't mean she had to hate her.

"Don't worry your pretty little head. You won't have much to look forward to," Delia turned herself in the direction of their leader, who was still sleeping, oblivious to everything. Lexi's eyes widened and a shriek escaped her throat.

"Don't touch him!" she screamed. She fought to move again, but only moved inches which took tremendous effort. It was hopeless for her to do anything. Her ears and eyelids drooped. Nothing could be done. A feeling of absolute hopelessness smacked her entire body like a brick wall. It was a draining-type feeling that she hoped to never feel again. "No…" she whispered.

"I won't," Delia assured with a devilish smile. She took aim and then shot their leader with a different gun. This gun sent out a gingerly green wave toward the rabbit that looked to be harmless, and it was; after the wave had fully travelled through the rabbit's body. The gray rabbit murmured and slowly awoke afterwards. The Alleviate gun had worked perfectly.

"Ugh… why don't I feel any pain? It's only been a little over a day," Ace willingly pulled the breathing tube out from his throat. Once his vision fully returned, he first saw Lexi, Cassidy, and Rev, laid out on the floor, paling as they looked back at him with widened ogles. Lexi was silently crying as she gave him an incredulous look. "What's wrong, guys?" he asked and after studying the features of his friends, felt another presence in the room. That could only explain why all of them were on the floor and mute. He looked ahead of him. There was an _unwelcomed_ intruder. Ace didn't have time to think about how much she looked like Cassidy. She was pointing a gun and it looked like she wasn't going to hesitate to use it. Ace immediately shot at the taller cat using his laser beams. He felt as good as new, and his power confirmed his condition. He was in perfect health now. He didn't know how, but he was. Nothing hurt anymore, at least, _physically_.

A high pitched meow could be heard, but Delia was in no pain, but she expected to meet her fate. A shield that looked much like Cassidy's, only it had a black tint to it, floated in front her just before the lasers had hit her. The shield disappeared after absorbing the impact. Another cat made her appearance and with her stun gun and unexpectedly shot Ace. The leader shouted out of pain, and then succumbed to it all over again. He was in perfect health, but now he couldn't move a muscle. He could clearly see that the two cats before him, removing his casts, were Cassidy's own siblings.

"We can't have you in those casts to do our work," smugly remarked the shorter cat. For being Cassidy's sisters, the only resemblance they had was the trade mark pink hair. "_Hey_! Virgo only said that it was supposed to paralyze them, not knock them out!" she added, turning her head in the direction of his unconscious friends. Again, Ace could do nothing about it as he slowly turned his neck to see his friends, undoubtedly knocked out. Tears of absolute rage came to the rabbit's eyes.

Delia noticed this and simply laughed. "Yeah, yeah, that'll make things easier. The one in pink is annoying," the cat shrugged and started to remove Ace's ankle casts. She knew she would hit a nerve with the leader.

"Her name is _Lexi_ and you'll pay for what you've done!" Ace threatened and couldn't help, but growl at the two cats. Who did they think they were? Who were they working for? They must have ties to Massive. Ace was increasingly getting dizzier and dizzier, but he had to hold in for his team that was remaining. He hadn't a clue where Tech and Duck were, and it would be energy wasting to try to hypothesize.

"How cute, you're actually fighting. Well, lights out!" Another shot from the stun gun left Ace unconscious. The two cats took a moment to themselves to laugh hysterically at their actions. Classic villainesses.

Orange triangle. Green triangle.

"So, Duck… where were we supposed to go?" Tech finally asked as he caught up next to the duck. "I wasn't… listening, you know." The coyote shrugged and timidly tried to play off his absentmindedness.

"We were supposed to go to this… _abandoned_ warehouse, don't worry, Pal. Just follow me," Duck took off ahead and Tech reluctantly followed behind him. Duck figured that was the reason why Tech trailed behind him in the first place. He knew he blanked out before Zadavia, too carried away in his thoughts of Rev. It was understandable. The two of them were oblivious to what was happening back at the tower. After a few minutes of persistent flying, the two of them landed before an abandoned warehouse. At least, it looked abandoned from the outside to the mallard. The coyote probably had other thoughts, being the super genius he was. "Is Rev's GPS working? How is Slam supposed to be here?" Duck huffed and approached the closed garage doors.

Tech stopped himself from growling at the duck's careless remark about Rev's GPS. When had it ever failed? Tech tried to shrug off the comment, but he felt like strangling the foolish duck. He slowly dragged behind his teammate. Duck was ignorant of his comment that touched Tech's heart. Due to Tech's slow pace, Duck only thought that the coyote needed to get out more. But of course, his slumped posture probably stood for something else. Maybe he was just being too carried away in his thoughts, but he had to ask. Duck twirled around to face his teammate with a look of repent. Duck's hands linked together behind his back as he faced the cement ground. "You okay, Einstein?"

"Yeah, what's up, Duck?" Tech was taken aback by Duck's contrite. He looked guilty and sorry for something. Hopefully he realized that the comment he made of Rev did, in fact, offend him. Comments like that the rest of the team would usually shrug it off, it was Duck being rude. Times like these, Tech hoped that Duck realized that he had to be more careful with his words and playful remarks and comebacks. The coyote would be simply amazed if Duck figured that out _all by himself_. Duck raised his head and before he could open his beak, the two of them heard a deep voice.

"What's up? You're the one that's up, up, and away! And you can kiss the ground!" Massive's loud cackle could be heard from behind them.

Tech was too late to pull out his invention before Massive had shot his gravitational forces at the two of them. Duck instantly started to float up to the sky while Tech's back slammed to the ground. The coyote just barely had a hold on the duck's foot to keep him from reaching the atmosphere and imploding. Massive laughed at their efforts. He couldn't get enough of how his powers made the Loonatics so vulnerable. Massive held out his other hand toward a nearby dumpster. He decided to switch up his plans. He shot the dumpster and it started to float up toward the sky. He directed its weight toward Duck. In a second, the mallard slammed down on top of the coyote. Tech heard his inventions in his backpack break. A whimper escaped his throat as the pain of Duck's added weight hit his stomach. Duck couldn't decipher whether the whimper meant his physical pain or the emotional pain of one of his 'babies' being broken.

"Duck, try to quack out of here," Tech managed to whisper to him.

"I'm not leaving you!" Duck yelled back angrily, not caring whether Massive heard him or not. He couldn't believe that Tech would want him to get away while he would be captured by Massive. The mallard didn't want to be anywhere without the coyote right now. Leaving wasn't an option.

"Hah, you two can't escape! Not anymore, that is," Massive waved his hand and scooped the two Loonatics into two separate cylinders that immediately trapped them when they were inside. Massive's powers wore off inside the cylinders.

"What is this?" Duck demanded to know. He attempted to quack out of the cylinder, but he couldn't escape. An electric shock reprimanded him from using his power. "Ouch!" he whined as he rubbed his back side. (They looked to be the same cylinders from 'The World is my Circus.')

Tech attempted to use his magnetic levitation power to break apart the cylinder, but he too, received an unfriendly shock on his hands that stopped him. "Who are you working for, Massive? You can't be alone!" Tech pounded his fists on the glass. Duck did the same thing. It was probably bullet-proof to keep them in. Tech wanted answers more than anything at the moment.

"You'll all perish soon anyways. Mr. Virgo, and Mastermind," Massive laughed again as he approached the garage doors that led to no particular garage. His power surrounded the cylinders, making them float closely behind him as he made his way inside. As Tech and Duck were escorted inside, their cylinders, their containers, hooked into what seemed to be like a generator inside a laboratory that looked much more high-maintenance than Tech's. The two of them gasped as they saw Ace, Lexi, Rev, Cassidy, and Slam, in similar cylinders, also hooked into a generator, but all of them were unconscious.

"What did you did to them?" Duck shouted his inquiry and kicked the cylinder repeatedly to get an answer. He was angry now that Zadavia had sent them on their mission while the rest of the Loonatics stayed at home. Would it have mattered if they were home as well? He would like to strongly believe so.

"I stunned them, but then they fell unconscious. Are you sure these weaklings are supposed to power that generator and ship?" A tall cat walked into the main entrance of the laboratory and answered the mallard's question as she approached the back of a chair, where her brother sat.

"_Yes_… I'm sure. They better." He dourly responded and then stood up. Tech gasped at his sight. It was unquestionably Virgo, from the Acme institute. The male cat smiled devilishly when he made eye contact with the coyote. "Why, hello there, Tech E. Coyote, it's been a while, my student," he broke out in laughter, soon joined in by his oldest sister and Massive.

Tech lowered his head and sunk to his knees. What could Duck and him possibly do? There was nothing. No hope. If Ace wasn't conscious, then surely they would all be in deep trouble. The coyote looked to his right to see Rev's unconscious body lay against his cylinder. If only he could have made peace with him before he left for his mission… would they even make it out of this with their lives? Regrets swarmed the coyote's mind. _'What? What happened to Rev's tail?'_ Tech stopped himself from breathing. In his moment of realization he felt as though the world had stopped around him. Nothing really seemed to matter anymore anyways. He saw that Rev's tail was perfectly fine. All of his feathers had returned. He was sure that roadsters feathers, even Rev, being affected by the meteor hit, couldn't grow back in less than a day… Tech remembered something at the Acme institute being a freshman while Virgo was still teaching. He was working on a side project named the Alleviate Gun 3000. Could it be…? Was that why Cassidy and Ace also held no bruises or burns? Their bones were probably in perfect condition as well.

"What are you planning? And how _dare_ you take Ace and Cassidy while they're badly injured! You're a coward! I hate scumbags like you!" Duck intervened. He could care less about Tech's personal relationship and ties with the cat. They probably proved more heinous than possibly helpful. He wasn't afraid of what they could do to him. He would call them whatever he pleased. Being in that cylinder, they couldn't possibly demean the mallard more than it already did.

"Badly injured? They're perfectly fine. It'll take an hour for them to awake, just rest up until then… Literally," Virgo pulled out what seemed to be a remote control. Tech could only guess that it controlled the cylinders they were trapped inside. The coyote's heart skipped beats when he saw Virgo's thumb press a few buttons. Duck was expecting the worst. Villains _always_ had control of things, but situations only got worst before they completely turned around. Smoke filled only their containers. In a matter of seconds the two of them were in coughing riot and then fell unconscious.

Yellow triangle.

"Wake up, sleepyheads!" yelled a booming loud, deep toned, voice. Everybody could only suspect that it was Massive. He had a hold of the remote control and pressed a few buttons to control the gravity inside the cylinders.

The Loonatics, all except for Cassidy, who was outside lying before her siblings, slowly floated up and then dropped back down. What a rude awakening. It was more than enough to grab everyone's attention and ogles. Duck was the first to notice that Cassidy was out of her cylinder and her siblings were playfully kicking at her unconscious body. Ace and Lexi made eye contact as well as Tech and Rev. All of them were dizzy and exhausted, as if drained of their energy. Realization had not set in for most of them.

"_Hey_! What are you two doing to Cassidy? You're cowards! Why not fight us?" Duck tried to create his power orbs, mostly known as 'eggs,' but he received another electric shock that stopped him. Ace stood up, and so did the rest of the team.

"What is this…?" he wondered aloud and attempted to charge himself to shoot his laser beams. He was surprised with an electric shock travelling up through his body. Ace immediately discharged his power and his ogles went back to its regular white and blue. "What?" he tiredly rubbed his forehead. He shared a glance of confusion with Lexi. The female rabbit was truly happy that their leader was now in perfect condition. It didn't make sense though, why restore all of them back to their full health?

"I see you've already figured out what happens when you try to use your powers. You'll receive a nice _shock_," Virgo briefly explained and stepped behind his sisters. "Eliminate her, won't you?" The male cat walked back to his seat and began making preparations to charge the space ship through the super computer. Now that everyone was in full health, their powers would be sufficient enough.

"Huh, why, Virgo?" questioned Abby, she looked back at her sister. Delia seemed to have no problem with the question that sounded more like an order. The rest of the Loonatic's eyes widened at Virgo's request.

"Because she is worthless, do something useful for once and take care of her." Virgo waved his hand behind his shoulder and signaled for her to shoe off and take care of business.

"Well, little sis, you can take care of things, I hope," Delia bowed her head at her younger sister. Abby took it as an insult and clenched her fists. Of course she could defeat her sister! The two sisters looked ahead and couldn't spot Cassidy's body anymore.

"Oh, looks like she's going to get away. Better catch her!" Massive remarked and cackled along with Delia. Abby growled and blinked. Her eye balls turned into a pure white color, a different vision where she could see heat waves that would surely reveal her sister's hiding place.

"Guys, we have to get out of here! He's going to charge up that space ship, and I'm sure we're the battery power!" Tech smacked his cylinder shaped cell to get the attention of everybody. Ace nodded at him and attempted again to use his power, but was reprimanded by another shock.

"Cassidy, where are you? Ace, can you see her?" Duck frantically looked around, but he had no hope in finding his young love interest. Ace looked back at him sympathetically. The leader's intentions were solely consistent of his original team. He practically blamed the cat for their predicament, but he couldn't tell the mallard this right now. After all, just yesterday everything was completely normal… ever since her arrival… Ace mentally shook himself. It wasn't time to pin the blame on anyone, especially Cassidy. She did save his life. How could he start to blame her?

"There! Cassidy, look out!" Ace endured the shocks he received by using his second vision. Rev would have done the same thing with his GPS, but he was too afraid to get electrocuted. The bird looked worriedly back at Tech, and he looked back at him.

"Too late!" yelled Abby and she powered herself up. Her eyes now consisted of a blood red color and her hands carried a noticeable black glow. Ace's eyes widened at Cassidy's plan, or at least, he _hoped_ that was her plan.

"I'm right here!" Cassidy revealed herself. She stood before Duck's cylinder and leaned against the cell, looking exhausted and drained, but most of all, afraid. She could only hope that her plan would work and that Duck wouldn't get hurt in the process. The mallard gasped and continued to pound his fists against the glass. What else could he do? He couldn't stand being helpless anymore or at least, not doing anything.

"Cass! Cass! What are you doing?!" he shouted and demanded to know. He felt tears come to eyes. He thought for sure he was going to lose his mind once again.

_I feel the night explode when we're together, emotion overload in the heat of pleasure._

Delia and Massive gasped at Cassidy's clear-cut plan. "No, stop, Abby!" they shouted at the feline. Virgo turned around and gritted his teeth. He could instantly see the plan. How dim-witted was his sister? The three could do nothing, but watch, along with the rest of the Loonatics.

Abby threw her fist in Cassidy's direction, but the younger cat ducked and wrapped her arms over her head. The older cat continued with her charged punch and easily broke open Duck's cylinder, completely missing her sister. The glass container shattered at her touch. It broke into dozens of pieces over Cassidy's head. Duck immediately took advantage of the moment of realization. He jumped out and tackled the older cat to the ground. They began their physical quarrel. Cassidy sat there, mentally stunned at Duck's immediate actions.

_Take me I'm yours, into your arms. Never let me go._

"Start the generators!" Delia demanded of her brother. Virgo nodded and activated the generators. The rest of the Loonatics, still stuck in the cylinders, could feel the temperature rising in their cells. All of them then felt an electric-feeling shock overcome them. Their energy was being drained and transferred at an alarming rate. Massive used his power to separate the duck and his partner. Abby fell on her back, feeling the added weight while Massive had Cassidy and Duck floating back into the broken cylinder joining their friends in the electrocution. They screamed at the top of their lungs along with the rest of the team.

"_Ace_, please help!" Lexi helplessly yelled out. Everyone had fallen to their knees in reaction to the generators continuously draining their power with an electric shock.

"Ace!" Tech, Cassidy, and Rev also called out, hoping for a miracle out of the team leader. None of them knew that they were mentally ripping him apart. They only figured that he could do something just because he was branded as leader and the strongest out of all of them combined.

_Because tonight I really need to _know_…_

'_I just have to do _something_!' _Ace feebly thought to himself. He felt like crying, but there wasn't any time for tears. It was heart wrenching to see his friends call out for him, and he didn't honestly believe he could do anything this time. Although, the time to cry was when he was close to death under that rooftop and in the hospital. Now he was in perfect health and his teammates were calling out to _him_. Nobody else. He had to do something. Anything. Even if it meant his life, again. He wasn't going to hesitate to take instantaneous action. They were his friends and they would always be his responsibility. He'd have it no other way.

_Tell it to my heart! Tell me I'm the only one. Is this feeling love or just a game?_

"Haaaaaa!" He roared out. Ace stood up and clenched his fists in front of him. He felt the electric shock travel through his body and cell especially concentrated on him, as if he held more power than the rest of the Loonatics, and that's exactly what Virgo thought. Ace powered himself up, making his ogles turn a bright yellow color, despite the electric shock getting stronger and now burning him. The leader decided to be ignorant towards his health and his body. The bunny slightly winced in return to all the pain he was enduring. The cylinders were strong enough to hold them in, but they weren't strong enough to hold up to their powers. No one had tried since the electric shock was so intimidating. "Game over, _Virgo_!" the leader yelled out and felt sufficiently powered. Ace released all of his strength and power, but just before, his cylinder began to visibly crack. When he shot his laser beams they seemingly effortlessly broke his cell and instantly broke though Lexi's, Rev's, Tech's, Slam's, Cassidy's and Duck's cells with a tremendous amount of force, even more powerful than the day he was crushed under the rooftop. It was payback. If there was ever time for revenge and vengeance for his near-death experience it was _now_.

_Tell it to my heart! I can feel my body rock, every time you call my name._

Ace's own cylinder shattered in hundreds of pieces, unable to contain his power. It shattered due to the electrical current that travelled through the cell that was supposed to stop the leader, but since it had no effect, more and more power travelled through, and the glass gave way. The rest of the Loonatic's cylinders shattered due to Ace's lasers. The leader didn't stop after he had broken the last cell. He slowly turned his head to face the laboratory, his laser beams still in full charge. He looked straight ahead at Virgo's computer screen and destroyed as much as he could all around him. At the time, Ace couldn't feel a thing anymore. The electric shocks weren't stopping him and he felt as though nothing could stop him. When push came to shove, he was going to do anything he could to protect his team. The rest of the Loonatics had jumped from their cells and huddled together and ducked to avoid being blasted by Ace's laser beams. Delia, Massive, Abby, and Virgo all ducked as well. Abby created a force field on top of all of them, shielding them from the debris. The laboratory and warehouse was falling apart all around them.

_The passion's so complete, it's never ending. As long as I receive the message your sending._

Ace forcefully close his eyelids and stopped himself from destroying anything else. Everything was destroyed, the entire laboratory, the generators, the super computers, and now the warehouse was falling a part on top of them. The leader stood on the platform and hunched over for a few moments to catch his breath before his legs gave way and he fell out of his cylinder, heading toward the ground. Steam was noticeably coming from his body. He was numb now, but he knew he was going to feel every one of those burns the next day.

_Tell it to my heart! Tell me I'm the only one. Is this feeling love or just a game?_

"Uh…" he released a sigh, but he in fact, tried to pronounce words. Duck ran up to him and caught the taller male in his arms. It reminded him of when he caught Lexi when she used all of her energy to help the Apocazons. This time, Ace _wasn't_ going to get left behind no matter what happened. Duck kept a tight grip around his leader's torso, in a hug. The mallard felt proud to catch his courageous and dauntless leader before he hit the ground. Numerous great things could be said about him. They were all so lucky to have such a chivalrous leader as him that would give his life away in a heart beat. Duck officially knew why Ace was deemed leader and not anyone else. And he now knew that he would never be able to take his place, no matter what happened. At the same time, Duck would never want to take his place. It didn't seem as appealing as it did before.

_Tell it to my heart! I can feel my body rock every time you call my name._

"C'mon everybody! I'm quacking out of here!" Duck announced and waited for everybody to grab a hold of him before he quacked out as far away from the warehouse he could before it collapsed on them. They escaped just in time. When all of them appeared in the middle of the street, they looked back to see the warehouse's roof and walls cave in. Duck swiped a gander at Cassidy. He saw tears slip down the cat's cheeks. They were her siblings and with a heart as big as Cassidy's; she could never really hate them or feel the need to destroy them as Ace did, successfully protecting his team. While everyone watched the colossal explosion less than a quarter of a mile from them, Duck realized something. He felt something wet and somewhat soggy on his leader's back. When Duck lifted his hand to see what it was, he found blood stains. The mallard inaudibly gasped at his discovery. Then he noticed that Ace was unconscious. For a moment, Duck felt completely enraged. He couldn't believe their stupid leader would give his life away for all of _them_! Again! Didn't he ever learn? Duck snapped out of his anger and knew that Ace needed immediate medical attention to treat his burns. "Ace… c'mon Pal, hang in there," he whispered to him, full knowing that the rabbit probably didn't hear him.

_No, I can't let you _go_…_


	8. Say So

Bunnyloverforever: **I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed.**

So far in my story, the Loonatics have been so… feeling-full. I feel like making them… dance. I've beaten them up too much, haha. R&R!

Chapter 8: Say So 

Orange triangle.

"Ace, Ace! Are you okay, Ace? Speak to us!" Duck pleaded and shook their leader's chest to rock him awake. Everybody huddled over their leader's body. Duck knelt over him and continued to try to wake him up. Duck's mind couldn't be put to rest unless he saw Ace open his hardened ogles. Lexi silently wept to herself while Rev bit his lower beak, knowing that it was probably better if he took Ace to the infirmary, but where was Zadavia? Tech and Cassidy exchanged unsure glances. Slam mumbled something that couldn't be deciphered, but he did look depressed and worried. So, all this time, Slam had been trapped in one of those cylinders in the warehouse.

"Uh… Duck?" Ace felt himself lie against the cold pavement of the road. He thought for sure that he had died moments ago, feeling himself float aimlessly in a dark abyss. Instead, he was looking up at the face of his own teammate he did all he could to save. Duck felt tears come to eyes once Ace had opened his. "Ow!" Ace lurched forward and held onto Duck's shoulders, keeping his back from feeling the pavement any longer. At first it was a cool, soothing, sensation, and then it quickly felt as though his skin was being burned off. "It hurts!" Ace bit his bottom lip. Duck could see that his back had blood stains through his suite. It was obvious that no one else had seen this, so he stood up and held Ace bridal style in his arms. The rabbit almost immediately began to drift off to sleep.

"We're getting you home, Pal." Duck softly stated and blinked away his tears. A weight had been lifted from his shoulders knowing that Ace wouldn't fall into some coma or… die. He was proud to have a leader such as Ace, who would do everything invested in his power to save his teammates and put his life on the line without a second thought. The mallard knew he could think those very angelic thoughts of him all day long. Anyone could.

"You-all-go-home,-I'm-going-to-go-find-Zadavia!" Rev jumped up in the air and then flew off in a matter of seconds. The bird knew she had to be somewhere hidden if she didn't come to their rescue in the infirmary when Cassidy's siblings… stunned them and then healed them. Tech lifted his hand and it looked as though he wanted to say something, but Rev didn't notice this and Tech didn't speak up before the bird flew off at an uncatchable speed.

Before anyone could accept, or decline, or nod, the bird was gone. Everybody activated their jetpacks and flew back to the tower. Duck knew Ace was losing consciousness, but he deserved a good rest. After all, Ace had saved all of them from Virgo's crazy plan to use them as batteries to power up some spaceship for a farfetched plan to take over the universe. That was Duck's theory. There were still many unanswered questions, but Duck _thought_ for sure that none of them would be seeing Cassidy's siblings or Massive for a long time. Of course, he couldn't be a hundred percent sure.

Red triangle.

It turned out that Zadavia was actually hidden in one of the utility closets, unconscious from the 'stun' gun. Rev simply placed her on one of the hospital beds knowing that she hadn't suffered from any critical injuries. A good rest should cure her. Ace on the other hand needed bandages covering all of his torso and arms. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed once again. It was late at night and even though Lexi had tried to stay up to watch Ace wake up, she fell asleep in her chair. Slam helpfully carried her back to her room and then went to sleep himself, along with Cassidy. A little while afterwards, Rev had also fallen asleep. He couldn't see how Tech and Duck could easily stay up all night. The two of them hadn't voluntarily fallen asleep in days now. One of the reasons Rev stayed up so late was so he could talk to Tech, but he didn't gain the confidence to do so. It had been hours since anyone had talked. Duck glanced at Tech, who was sitting in a chair next to his sleeping buddy on the other side of Ace's bed. He was in deep thought staring at Ace's hand. Duck unlaced his fingers and stared down at the palm of his bloodied hands that didn't belong to him. They made nice noticeable stains even with his orange colored gloves. Tech knew of Duck's hands, and he wished the mallard would wash them. The coyote secretly knew that if he had Ace's blood on his hands, he would be too mystified to do anything about it. Yet, it still offended him.

"Duck, can you wash your hands?" Tech asked of him. He looked up at the mallard and met his hateful glare. Tech returned it with a look of disgust. A part of him couldn't believe, and the other half completely understood. It didn't matter what he thought because Duck couldn't hear his thoughts. His facial expression was all the mallard believed of the coyote that supposedly knew-it-all, but he didn't know how to treat his own friends. "Never mind," he added and continued to stare down at Ace's hand, as if the meaning of life was written on it. Duck lowered his head and faced his bloodied hands again.

"Sorry," the apology slipped out of the duck's beak. Tech, alarmed, instantly raised his head and widened his eyes. He didn't know what to say in response. "I keep saying and thinking that you don't know how to treat your friends… yet, look at how I've been talking to you for these past days… I can't forgive myself, how will you ever forgive me, Einstein?" A timid smile made its way on the Duck's beak, keeping his dark humor at the end. Then he propped his elbow up on his knees and held up his head by the palm of his hands. He stared down at the floor. Tech genuinely smiled at the mallard, but he didn't see his softened features since he was now looking down at the ground, as if expecting to receive another odious glare from him.

Tech stood from his chair and walked over to the other side of Ace's bed. He shortened his height by bending his knees to match the mallard's sitting position. He placed his hands on his shoulders and slightly pulled the mallard into him. The coyote did feel as though he deserved the harsh treatment Duck was giving him. After he was continuously chastised from him, he could understand clearly what he was talking about through his vicious words. It made him realize how wrongfully he was treating Rev and how much of a stuck up he made himself in front of Ace and everybody else. Duck sighed and felt horrible about himself. He felt awful about everything around him. The mallard placed his hands over Tech's and pulled them down over his neck. Tech looked down at the duck and felt the cold blood through his gloves. Tech or Duck didn't notice Rev's light snoring had long stopped.

The bird stood up from his chair in shock at the position his two teammates were in. He felt his grass green ogles burn tears in his eyelids. Rev didn't believe that he had those kinds of feelings for Tech, but the position… it didn't seem right. And his heart was apparently pulling his emotions in an entirely new and unfamiliar spectrum. It was a mixture of sorrow, disbelief, and even some anger. He couldn't admit to himself that it was _jealousy_. He continued to look incredulously at the two. Then he decided that it was probably best if he left before he lost his lunch at the picture.

Duck and Tech looked up ahead of themselves when they felt an unsuspecting breeze that was also familiar to be Rev's. Their bird companion didn't possess the power of invincibility, and the breeze only meant that it was Rev that raced out of the hospital room. His feathered body from the chair was missing. That was completely self-explanatory now. Tech took back his hands and stood to his fullest height, feeling mortified by his actions. Duck clearly didn't notice anything wrong with Tech's comforting hands. He didn't suspect in the least that Rev was jealous by Tech's only friendly and meaningless actions. The coyote knew perhaps what he had done wasn't the smartest thing in the world, but the bird was _asleep_. He didn't expect him wake up and then find them in that particular position, _not_ that he planned it. It was just Duck's apology made him want to slightly comfort the mallard. The coyote looked down at his now bloodied hands. A look of disbelief fell on his face and then sorrow soon overcame it.

"You should go wash your hands, Tech." Duck shook his head and held his head up by his palms once again. He now understood by the look of Tech's face what kind of inference Rev took by their actions. The coyote froze at the duck's remark. At first, he took it as some kind of insult and a growl erupted in his throat. A rage quickly uttered his body. His eyes widened in skepticism and he clenched his fists. But he soon apprehended that Duck only meant that he should check up on Rev and make sure he didn't get the wrong idea. The coyote soon softened his features. Tech instantly thought that the mallard was only making fun of him, but his comment actually made sense in a deeper thought. How come he didn't notice this at first?

"Heh, what are you waiting for, doc?" Both Duck and Tech jumped at the sudden voice of their leader. The two of them looked at him with incredulity. Ace smiled back at the two of them and sat up on his bed against his pillows. "Yeah, you could say I've been up for a while," he added with a playful smirk.

Duck's beak hung open in awe. Then he snapped out of his own trance. "Ace, how are you feeling?" the mallard anxiously inquired, as if his answer would accomplish his life's purpose. Ace merely grinned back at the mallard and focused his serious, yet encouraging ogles at the quizzical coyote. Tech's sight broke from Ace's and he focused on the tiled floor he stood on. Duck noticed this and he looked back at the coyote, a bit surprised that he didn't take off yet. Of course, just as he thought, the super-genius took off in a sprint out of the hospital room after thanking Ace.

"And Duck, you're asking _me_? I'm feeling like a new bunny," Ace chuckled at the end of his fib. Duck knew he was lying, but he didn't mind. The mallard smiled back. He eventually found a frown and saddening features fall upon his leader's face. It was solely because Ace discovered blood on the duck's gloves. Without asking, he knew it was _his_ blood. He felt ashamed and a bit embarrassed at the fact. Duck glanced at his hands and figured that was cause of Ace's expression. What else could cause the shudder?

"That's great, Pal," he replied and weakly smiled back at the 'new' bunny. An audible yawn escaped the duck's beak. He rubbed his eyelids and continued to stare at the face of his leader. Ace looked back at him and gave him another smile; as if he was in perfect condition and as if nothing had happened that night. He didn't want to acknowledge the facts… not now. Couldn't it wait? Couldn't this small passage of normalcy between friends occupy their moments right _now_? Ace wanted more than anything for that to happen. He prayed that Duck wouldn't ask any questions, and as if knowing his thoughts, Duck's long and slightly troublesome stare didn't bring any. It was more relieving than Ace thought it would be.

"You don't look too good, Duck. Are you sure you're not the one that's supposed to be in this hospital bed? That chair doesn't look too comfy," Ace lifted his hand and pointed at the plastic chair Duck sat on. The mallard couldn't disagree with his leader. He stood up and then rubbed his numbed bottom. Ace chuckled at his reaction that proved his statement true.

"Very funny," Duck remarked, but his sarcastic tone couldn't conceal the smile forming on his face.

"Duck, you look bad. Why don't you go to sleep?" Ace asked, concerned for the wellbeing of his friend. "Is it 'cause of me?" The leader gulped at his question, but he knew it had to be true.

"'Cause of you? Oh, _please_! Like, why would I sit here on the most uncomfortable plastic chair just looking at you doing _nothing_? That's despicable! Who would be Looney enough to do that? As a matter of fact, I was _just_ about to leave to my room. See ya, _rabbit_," All of Duck's words were just a string lies. Ace's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. He watched the mallard march to the exit of the infirmary without looking back at him. Danger Duck decided to keep true to his narcissistic persona. He wasn't about to let Ace know just yet that all of his previous actions scarred him deeply. Although, Ace knew well enough that it did to know why Duck decided to act stuck-up, as if nothing from the past two days had affected him. Just because Ace wanted him to be strong for the team, it didn't necessarily mean he wanted him to turn numb to all the pain. But he didn't exactly know that Duck felt every ounce of emotional and physical pain the team had endured. So, without looking back or stopping, Duck walked out of the infirmary with his head held up high.

_Never make it stop! Oh, take it to the _heart_. _

"Night, Duck…"

Green triangle.

Tech didn't know he could run as fast as he was right now. When he reached Rev's room, the door opened in his presence and he didn't see the bird. Where could he be? With his speed, he could be anywhere on the face of Acmetropolis… The coyote was about to reluctantly leave the bird's room when he spotted an unfamiliar white note taped next to his door. Tech's ogles widened as he rushed up to the wall and grasped the note in his bloodied fingers. Oh, great. How was he going to explain the blood on the note to the rest of the team? After Tech rolled his eyes, he focused and read the cursive.

_'Hey, guys! I just decided to take Zadavia up on her offer and visit my family for a while. I'll be back after a few weeks!' –Rev_

Why on Acmetropolis would Rev want to visit his _family_? Tech's eyes wandered away from the note when he realized how frank his thought sounded to him. It had been almost a year since Rev visited his family, and Tech couldn't remember the last time he called them. Even if the reason was completely valid, the timing was pretty high on the coincidence scale. Would his bird friend have taken off regardless if he found him and Duck in that position? Tech would have liked to think so, but he knew better. Besides him and Duck, and probably Ace, no one else would have a clue of the actual reason for Rev's hiatus. The coyote walked backwards and purposely fell over his favorite roadster's bed, landing in the middle of his mattress and spreading his arms out. He didn't care if he stained his bed with blood. That's what he gets for abandoning him! Tech grimly thought. He turned to his side and pulled his knees up. The tired coyote fell asleep smelling the last of Rev's scent on his bed. Even if it was just a vacation, something seemed dreadfully wrong…

* * *

Not only was the roadrunner born with the name Rev Runner, he surely earned it as well. Rev slowed his speed down just a bit. He was running as fast, if not, faster, than a bullet. Unfortunately, there was a pair of blood red eyes in Acmetropolis that could clearly spot him. The male genius's body leaned against a brick building. He was clothed solely in black for a reason. It was convenient how fast a hostage was coming his way. This would work out much more effortlessly than he expected it to be. Yes, he was planning on kidnapping one of the members of the Loonatics to lure the rest, but he didn't suspect one of them would be running right into his arms already. No matter, _Virgo_ decided to take up on the bird's demise. When he watched the roadrunner race off down the sidewalk before him, the stealthy cat snapped his fingers.

Rev turned his head to look back at the figure dressed in black. He thought he recognized the figure from his GPS, but it was too late to think about that now. "Whaaaaa!" The bird found himself suddenly lifted from the ground and spinning in a corkscrew until he faced his rough landing skinning his forearms and knees. Rev was laid out on his stomach and slowly pushed himself up to his knees, completely in a mental haze. He tried to recap what had just happened in almost a split second. It was like another force, apparently invisible, threw him completely off-course, into the air, unable to go against it, and then sent him spinning above the ground until he crashed. What could explain that kind of force? Rev took back his question when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. The bird mentally slapped himself for not keeping his uniform on until he reached home. Now he couldn't call Tech or anyone else. The roadster was dressed in brown slippers, cream colored shorts ending above his skinny knees, and a green, hooded, sweat shirt, the same one he wore the night when Massive attacked the Loonatics at the pizzeria. Rev turned his body around and sat on his bust, looking up at the faceless cat before him. "Uh…" Rev bit his lower beak and his grass green ogles widened timidly at the figure before him. The roadrunner was shaking in fear, wondering what would happen to him and regretting his actions tonight. He was simply going to visit his family and spend some well-earned quality time with all of them and contemplate his thoughts and feelings about Tech and the rest of the team…

"Heh, don't worry, I'll take _good_ care of you. Then again, perhaps your friends will act a bit faster if they know you aren't doing so _well_…" Virgo smiled maliciously down at the bird. In a split second, Virgo pulled out another version of one of his stun guns and shot it at his new hostage.

"Ah!" Rev rolled backwards several times by the impact. He found himself in a specialized net, unable to simply rip through it. (The one Electro J-Fudd used on Duck in 'The Hunter.') "Hey! What-are-you-going-to-do-to-me? Tech'll-be-here-in-no-time-to-save-me-along-with-the-rest-of-my-team,-including-your-sister!" The bird found himself grumbling at his captor. Of course he was angry, but he was more curious. What would become of him? What were the cat's plans? Didn't they just destroy his laboratory? The bird's threatening features quickly turned panicky when Virgo approached him. Rev ducked his head down, but Virgo merely began to drag the net with his hostage off, not caring about his question or empty threat. It didn't matter to him. He wanted the Loonatics to come to the bird's aid anyway.

"Why-did-you-take-me?" Rev inquired again, finding some confidence to annoy the evil villain. Virgo paused and the roadrunner looked up at the back of the cat's head to see if he would turn to look at him. Several seconds passed by and then Virgo started his pace back up again. At first the bird's heart dropped to his stomach and he found it impossible to swallow when those seconds passed by him. For some reason, it made him deathly afraid of his captor. Once his pace started again Rev sighed and felt hot tears begin to develop in his eyes. "But… my friends won't really come to get me. They think I'm on vacation…" he softly added.

The villain came to a dead stop and immediately twirled around to face his victim. "_What_?" his British accent rang in his one word exclamation. An idea quickly formulated in the cat's brain. A devilish smile overcame his shocked expression. "Well, then _we'll_ just have to tell them, right, Revy, _boy_? Oh, but I always love to spice things up, do you know what I mean by that?" On the spot Virgo had come up with the perfect nickname for the bird. The cat finished by chuckling to himself. It was tempting for him to keep his paws off of the bird when he looked so helpless and apprehensive. Rev inched further back away from his captor. Virgo took a considerable step toward him and then bent his knees to match his height. It surprised him for a moment how intimidating he was to the bird. He guessed he had that kind of effect on people, or perhaps it was the bird's own insecurities and nature. "Don't worry, you'll find out _soon_ enough," Virgo finished and then lightly chuckled to himself again. The male cat stood back up, and continued to drag along the sidewalk until he turned into an alleyway.

"Where-are-we-going?" Rev blurted out his inquiry and waited for an answer, but he got no response. It was probably because Virgo didn't need to speak to answer his question. From Rev's point of view, which wasn't too good because of the utter darkness of the alleyway, it looked as though Virgo had pulled up a piece of the ground. Lighting from, apparently underground, aided him to see the staircase Virgo was stepping down and now dragging him toward. The roadrunner released a whimper for each step his bust met. His captor stopped to pull down the entrance to the underground laboratory. The cat held no guilty conscious as he kicked the back of the bird and watched him roll down the rest of the staircase. It was entirely hilarious to him when he heard the bird yelp until he reached the foot of the stairs. A small voice inside him told him that he wasn't always like this. Again, the voice was quickly forked down.

"Heh, Mallory isn't here," Virgo said aloud to himself when he finished cackling. "She just may be my only fear," he added and then stepped on Rev's back as if he were another step. The bird whimpered again and felt the air out of him all convert into carbon dioxide. All he could do was whimper or yelp. There was nothing else that could be done about the cat's actions. After Rev gained the courage to open his eyes once he finished praying, he saw the back of Virgo's head. His body was seated against a comfortable looking chair before another supercomputer. There were at least half a dozen supercomputers and baker's dozen generators. Inventions were laid out just about anywhere, but were mostly kept in a corner of the underground laboratory Rev made sure to remember. The bird moved his aching muscles to sit up on his bottom and perhaps attempt to predict what the cat was doing. Rev soon decided against it and merely closed his eyes and lain in a fetal position. Was it the net that was making him feel especially weak or was it all in his head? It was too hard to tell.

Virgo detected this with his sensitive hearing. And plus he wasn't really too tentative with his calculations on the computer. He spun around on his chair and faced the small bird's body. "You'll be here for several days. Whether or not I bring you food or water is simply up to me. Eventually, you'll have to send a formal message to your team saying that you work for me now, but I will allow you to disclose the address of where you may speak with all of them, but before… since Mallory has always wanted to get rid of that poor-excuse-of-a-coyote, you will ask him to meet you somewhere."

"What? Will-I-get-to-talk-to-Tech? Why-would-you-want-me-to-do-that? Aren't-you-worried-about-me-escaping?" Rev had long rolled over and sat upright to face and listen intently to Virgo. What he says might make the difference between him living or deceasing in his care.

"Well, not really. Seeing as you will be strapped with a bomb set to blow… I don't care if you speak with him or not since there is no humanly possible way you will make it out alive. That is why I have to create an expert bomb that will prevent Techie from regenerating himself. Aren't I quite the genius? Oh, and I love the drama everything will stir! I've always been one to cause drama, haven't I?" Virgo clasped his hands together and his voice rose gaily.

Rev's ogles widened at his heinous plans. Was there ever a villain the Loonatics faced that was eviler? He wanted to destroy them emotionally and mentally first, and then physically. But why? What for? What else in the world could mean more than the precious lives of seven, including his sister, his own flesh and blood? The roadrunner couldn't even imagine what would happen the fateful day when he would be forced to meet Tech, and his death date at the same time. It would all be a trap! Tech would rush to greet him while their time on Acmetropolis would be ticking away, just like a ticking time bomb, literally! How would he be able to stop him? How could he possibly save his best friend and team? Virgo said that he was going to be here for several days. That was more than enough time to think of _something_, right? What would happen those several days? Everyone would just think that he was fine unless Tech tried to call him. Then he would soon find out that he never made it to his home. But there wasn't a way to track him without his suit on, was there? Somehow, facing Tech and sharing his inner and true feelings with him seemed like a much _better_ deal than getting kidnapped trying to visit his family now…

"I know you'll be trying to think of a plan of some sort to save your poor friends, which is why I'll also be thinking too, Revy, boy. Now, just sit tight for a few days and _everything_ will _all_ be over."

"You… won't get away with this… Virgo…"

"Please… call me Façade from now on! The Last Thousandth Façade! But yours is just beginning! Ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!"


	9. Loose Lips

**Bunnyloverforever:**** Wow, it has been a long time since I've started writing again. I'm definitely not as good as I used to be, but I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Please R&R! There's a lot of Cassidy x Duck in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed. That would just be freaking awesome if I did though. **

Chapter 9: Loose Lips

All Cassidy wanted to do was sneak a peck at Danger Duck. Though, they haven't exactly been dating, the vibes seemed to be there. Unfortunately, Duck was an adult and she was nearly sixteen. Two more darn years was just too long for the feline to wait to officially be with Duck! That one night when she snuck into his bed the day of Ace's accident, she knew she heard him say:

_"Cass… I think I love you, and it hasn't even been a day."_

That same nick name that Duck calls her gives her butterflies even now. Ever since that one night they slept in the same bed, no one has ever left them alone by themselves. Someone was _always_ around. Since Ace's speedy recovery, whenever he watched them, he always made everything incredibly awkward. Cassidy made it a point to leave the room whenever Ace was around, but she only did it because of one reason: Ace wouldn't leave her alone with Duck.

Ace had personally spoken with Cassidy about why no one would leave her alone with Duck and vice versa. The conversation didn't go over too well. It went a little like this…

* * *

_"Cassidy, you're fifteen, you're a smart girl. You know why we can't leave you alone with Duck. Everyone knows you two have feelings for each other, but Duck is too old for you. We all believe you when you say you did nothing with him that one night, but that can't ever happen again, even just you two sleeping together like friends," Ace explained._

_Hot tears welled up in Cassidy's eyes. "I don't understand…" she replied ignorantly. _

_"You do understand! I've already had a _long_ talk with Duck, he's not happy about it either, believe me. He promised me that he wasn't going to do anything with you alone or unsupervised. You know how hardheaded he is, and even he agreed to the circumstances." _

_"That can't be!" Cassidy cried out. _

_"It is, I'm sorry. That's the way it has to be until your eighteenth birthday. You're almost sixteen."_

_"It's still another two years…" she stated forlornly. _

_"Look, Cassidy, Duck loves you enough that he'll wait for you. That means a lot!" Ace said, trying to convince the cat out of her misery. _

_"I guess…" she replied, unsure of the comment. _

_"I _know_ it. He does love you, he'll wait for you. When I spoke with him earlier, and trust me when I say this, it was a _long_ talk; I'd never seen him so adamant in my life about anyone else but you. I've never even seen Duck act the way he has until you joined the Loonatics, and the whole team agrees with me."_

* * *

Things had been so different between Duck and her lately. Some times, Duck wouldn't even let her out of her room until she studied for an upcoming exam Tech was going to give her that day. Tech's exams were in fact, the hardest she had ever taken, but she was getting used to the trick questions. She would always have to read up to two chapters ahead in her studies to get a perfect mark in her exam. Though they were extremely challenging, at the rate she was going, she would finish her high school courses before turning seventeen.

Most other times, Duck would act indifferently around her, as if she wasn't in the same room as him. He would most always act as though she was invisible when she wasn't even using her power, and that greatly saddened her. Cassidy would find herself crying at night because of how unfairly Duck would treat her that day. He acted like they weren't even friends some times. She only found comfort in Lexi. She was a good listener and seemed to be her only friend that offered great advice. They were the only girls on the team.

It was late at night and Cassidy sat on the opposite side of Duck on the couch. Lexi was barely awake to continue to watch T.V. with them.

Lexi looked groggily back at Duck and Cassidy. "Guys, I'm going to go to sleep. I'm about to drop off. Don't stay up too late watching T.V. you two. Tech wants to talk with us tomorrow morning about something," Lexi sighed. She trusted Duck and Cassidy enough to leave them alone. They hadn't been sneaking around nor acting strange, so what was the point losing her beauty sleep? Lexi stood up and walked off to her room to sleep.

"Good night," Cassidy said before Lexi disappeared behind the door to her room. Cassidy couldn't help, but smile hopefully at Duck.

When Duck noticed her stupid smile, he looked away and rolled his eyes, sighing aloud, almost out of frustration.

"Well, what are you doing way over there? You can't even see the T.V. on that side of the couch," Duck stated, quite annoyed. He knew better than anyone that he was especially hard on Cassidy over the last week. He loved her more than anything in the world, and it broke his heart as well when he acted strict and tough on her.

Cassidy was puzzled by the remark until Duck gestured for her to come closer to him. She practically jumped off the couch out of excitement, but quickly controlled herself when she made it over to Duck. Cassidy finally sat down next to the mallard, and her stomach went crazy. Butterflies swarmed inside of her, and for some reason, she felt like crying. This was the closest they had gotten for a week, and her feelings kept spiraling out of control. Why couldn't she be as unfeeling as Duck?

Duck had almost no interest in the movie they were watching. He lowered the volume with the remote. He couldn't bring himself to look back at Cassidy, but he could feel her eyes on him. Duck continued to look ahead with a blank look. "Cass, you know I have strong feelings for you. I haven't said much of anything to you the past week, and I know you're hurting."

"How do you even know I hurt? I could just have no feelings, like you!" Cassidy interrupted angrily.

"I know you hurt because I can feel it, I hurt too when you hurt. This may sound crazy to you, but I think you're my other half. I can just feel it," Duck spoke resolutely.

Cassidy was caught off guard with those words. She had no clue that was how Duck felt about her, or that he even hurt at all. This entire week she was sure that the mallard had been acting more and more like a robot than anything. When the words actually sunk in, tears slipped from her eyelids. "You're always so mean…"

"I'm so sorry Cass… I figured you'd hurt less if you disliked me instead… but it hasn't been working," Duck apologized contritely. He then pulled Cassidy on his lap.

"You're so mean!" she wept quietly in his chest. She didn't want to make too much noise with her tears. Their time together was much too precious.

"I know, I'm just a big meanie head, aren't I?" Duck ran his fingers through the feline's silky, pink hair. He felt her tears on his chest. The girl's cries were ripping his heart apart inside. "Don't cry. You know I love you more than anything, Cassidy. I've just never heard those words come from you, yet."

Duck's last sentence struck Cassidy hard. He was absolutely right; she had never once said she loved him. Why was that? There was never an exact opportune moment to say it. There was no other moment to say it than now that he had pointed it out.

"I love you, Duck! Don't ever doubt that! I love you so much it hurts!" Cassidy wrapped her arms around Duck's neck. As much as she wanted to kiss him, she suppressed the feeling and settled for snuggling under his chin.

"It makes me happy to know that you do love me, but please don't hurt anymore. I won't be tough on you. I have no reason to be," Duck whispered. With his left arm, he pulled Cassidy closer in him and his right hand continued to brush through her hair. "No more crying, I promise, it'll all be okay."

Cassidy now felt warm and secure inside. There was nothing to be afraid of when she was with Duck. There was nothing else she thought of besides him as well, not even the slightest thought of them getting caught together crossed her mind.

"It'll be all right, I love you Cass," Duck repeated softly.

Green Triangle.

Cassidy woke up in the morning on the couch. Tech's hand shook her awake. She was startled, and looked around herself to find Duck, but he was nowhere around her. She was laying down on her side with a blanket tucked over her. It was all Duck's kind doing. He thought of everything now when it came to hiding their time spent together. Cassidy was inwardly grateful for the mallard's efforts.

"Duck's in the kitchen," Tech answered. "You fell asleep watching T.V. That can't be good for your health, don't do it again, Cassidy," he scolded.

"Yes, Tech," she agreed mindlessly. Cassidy realized Duck must have woken up much earlier than her so they could avoid being caught together.

"Duck told me to tell you that he's making you breakfast, which is very unusual of him," Tech rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Come to the breakfast table, I have to make an announcement." The coyote hurried away after that was said.

The last thing Cassidy could remember last night was Duck whispering in her ear that he loved her and being in his warm, strong arms. She missed the feeling, but she knew it wouldn't be long until she'd be able to be with him like that again. The cat stretched before she stood up. She took her seat at the table, of course, next to Duck. Her plate was already served in front of her. Her favorite omelet, and salmon, her favorite kind of fish, and two glasses of milk. She purred at the sight of her favorite breakfast dish.

Duck came by and simply grinned at her reaction. He patted her head friendlily and sat down with his breakfast dish. Everyone stared at the future couple for a moment before Tech demanded everyone's undivided attention.

"What's the announcement, Tech?" Ace inquired.

"I'm ninety-eight percent sure that Rev's been kidnapped," Tech blurted out.

Ace and Duck raised a brow at the blatant remark. Cassidy gasped, while Lexi and Slam were thrown completely off guard.

"Would that explain why Rev hasn't called in yet?" Lexi questioned. "That's a bit of a stretch…"

"The other two percent?" Ace asked with a crooked grin.

"The other two percent is that I could be wrong and losing it, but I highly doubt that's even possible," Tech explained, folding his arms proudly.

"He could just be having lots of fun with his family, Tech. You don't think you could be overreacting just a tiny bit?" Ace suggested, almost certain in the back of his mind that Tech was merely deprived of his best friend.

"He didn't take his suit with him when he left. Maybe that's why you can't trace him, Tech o' pal," Duck said.

"Ablalahgoohinonowaaay," Slam interjected.

"Everyone, just _stop_! I need your attention!" Tech yelled over his team, silencing them. "I called Rev's parents, they said he never made it to their place and it's been a week. Where else would Rev even go?"

"I see now, Tech's right, and he ain't off his rocker, everyone finish your breakfast. We have to find Rev!" Ace proclaimed.


	10. Unfound

**Bunnyloverforever: Hello everyone, I know it's been ages. I would like to thank my true friends and fans, and new fans, who have been continuously requesting for more chapters of my story, and I believe I will start up soon once again. Thank you everyone for all the pleasant reviews! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Loonatics Unleashed.**

Chapter 10: Unfound

"Where should we look, Ace?" Lexi queried.

The Loonatics stood, all clothed in their appropriate uniforms. Duck stood especially close to Cassidy without being noticed, or so he thought. Ace sent him a quick glare, warning him. Duck retaliated by raising his brow at the leader. Ace decided not to pursue the potential falling out they would have later.

"Tech, do you have any ideas as to where Rev would go?" Ace turned, facing the worrisome coyote.

"Again, I don't think he went anywhere by his own will. I think he was captured. There's no way of tracking him though, he doesn't have his uniform or his communicator on him. I've thought of everything, and I cannot come up with _anything_."

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to follow our instincts, whether or not we shoot and miss," Lexi said.

Ace nodded at the suggestion.

"We should split up into groups then," Duck added.

"Yeah, we should," Ace agreed, raising a suspicious brow at the mallard. "Tech, take Slam. Lexi's with me, and so that leaves Duck and Cassidy."

The coyote suddenly sucked in a deep breath of air. The rest of the Loonatics immediately turned at the sound of the coyote's small yelp.

"What's wrong, Tech?" Cassidy worriedly asked, running to him.

"I just… I feel like something's been terribly done to Rev! I _know_ sound dramatic, I know I appear to be some crestfallen fool, but –"

"No, it's all right Tech," Lexi said, interrupting the coyote before he could diminish whatever self-confidence he had. "You're best friends with Rev, and you're worried sick about him. It's going to be okay, we'll find him," she said, laying a hand on his shoulder soothingly.

"I hope so…"

Green Triangle.

Tech walked around for what seemed to be ages. He lumbered aimlessly alongside Slam, who was actually putting effort into looking through each alleyway they crossed together. Tech was increasingly growing more and more doubtful that they would find Rev. It was impossible! Acmetropolis was enormous, and who knows how long Rev had been missing for? The circumstances and his calculations were only bringing his spirits down. He was close to losing faith.

"Tek, hababa gloof ovah heeer?" Slam inaudibly asked the coyote.

"No, I didn't look. Ugh, Slam, this is _impossible_! The odds of us finding Rev on a whim are astronomical!" Tech exclaimed. He heaved a sign and plopped down on a city bench depressingly. "Why does it seem like he just disappeared off the face of this planet?"

"Dun haagf uhp!" Slam exclaimed, somewhat angrily.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm not giving up… I'm just… I don't know." Tech looked away with distraught. _'__Why __did __you __leave __in __the __first __place, __Rev?__'_

Yellow Triangle.

"Ace, this seems hopeless. How are we supposed to find Rev? We have no leads or anything. Not even a clue. Tech's right, he didn't just wander off somewhere. Someone had to have taken him," Lexi rambled on.

"You're right, too. Someone who's _really_ smart had to have taken him. Who do we know that's smart and evil and not currently in jail right now?" Ace queried, already knowing the answer to his question.

"Wait – Virgo! But, wouldn't he and his sisters all have been obliterated in the explosion?"

"They probably weren't. That was a foolish mistake on my part to have everyone leave the scene early. We should have cleared it first."

"Um, hello, you were near death? Remember? _And_ you woke up from a coma not too long before that," Lexi reminded her leader, raising a brow.

"Why didn't I realize this earlier? Of course, Virgo must be behind all of this. Its possible Mallory is too, but I'm sure Virgo's pulling all the strings." Ace clenched his fists. His teeth barred into the bottom of his lip. The leader was enraged that he had forgotten about clearing the scene and calling the police. Such a folly, unthinkable mistake has now led to the kidnapping of one of their own. It was entirely his fault and no one could convince him otherwise.

"We need a plan, now that I've figured all this out."

"Should we all meet back at the headquarters?"

Orange triangle.

"So… got anything to talk about?" the black mallard questioned, rolling his eyes casually.

"Not really. I can't pick up on Rev's scent anywhere, but I have a feeling he's not too far away from us. He's definitely here," Cassidy explained, sadly.

"We're probably just looking in all the wrong places. He's been kidnapped, that's clear. The perpetrator could be under the sea, underground, or high above. That would all take weeks to check out and Rev may not have that much time," Duck explicated maturely, but with a hint of disappointment and frustration.

"You make it sound impossible…"

"Think about it, really. This has happened before plenty of times. If someone gets kidnapped, there's going to be some sort of hostage situation that's going to come up in a few days. Usually, the perpetrator will come out to us himself and contact us, leading us into a trap and we normally foil," Duck replied assuredly.

Cassidy cracked a smile. "I like you a lot."

"You're not too bad yourself. I guess I could settle for a gorgeous feline. Even if I have to wait three years before you're legally mine."

Cassidy giggled, blushing slightly. She would never get used to flirting with the mallard. Also, she was grateful that Ace split up the team and grouped them together. She rarely spent much time with Duck back at the home base as it was. Unfortunately, since Zadavia found them together in bed when she snuck into his room that _one_ foolish time – no one has trusted them. Cassidy blamed herself completely, for Duck wished to bring her back to the hospital room.

"Hey, so, how do you know Tech?" Duck queried with his hands in his pockets, unsettling.

The question surprised Cassidy, and so she quickly looked away and stared at the ground in an attempt to gather her thoughts. "Uh… I thought you knew!"

"No, I really don't. All I know is that you spend tremendous amounts of time with him."

"Well, yeah, he's tutoring me. I'm almost done with my schooling. He's always been a good friend of mine."

"I see, I'm just wondering when you guys met."

"Oh, it was like ten years ago. I was six or seven. I was a really silly, little girl!" Cassidy chuckled at the memories. "Virgo was Tech's assistant teacher, and the professor asked Virgo to do something nice, like reward the top students in the class in appreciation for their hard work. Tech, being the genius that he is, was a top student, so my sisters and I spent the morning baking cookies."

"Yes, go on," Duck nodded in following.

"Long story short, I got separated from my brother delivering cookies to Tech. When I found Tech's room, I spent almost the whole day with him. It was nice. He was like another big brother, a mentor, someone to look up to. Like, that person you'll always love, you know? That one person you want to meet in the future and see what happens."

"What does that mean?" Duck raised a brow suspiciously.

Cassidy crossed her eyes in recognition of the incorrect connotations her words placed in Duck's mind. "Uh, nothing! Nothing at all, really!" she responded timidly.

"All right."

"Tech is old."

"Not much older than me, only by a year or two."

"He's old," Cassidy reaffirmed.

Duck grinned.

Yellow Triangle. Green Triangle.

The Loonatics were gathered back at their base. Ace had called off the search after several hours. They had no leads and no one had seen nor heard from Rev. Tech was disappointed in Ace's lack of attention to the issue, which was made clear.

"Why did call off the search so early? It's not dark out!" Tech pointed out, indignantly.

"Yes, I see that, Tech, but you have to understand that we're all exhausted and none of us, including you, have had any luck. There's no use in continuing our search until tomorrow. Perhaps things will turn out better tomorrow. Right now, we're all discouraged."

"Like Duck said earlier to me," Cassidy interjected. "If Rev was kidnapped, then someone is bound to contact us if they're holding him hostage, or they'll try setting up a trap for us to walk into when they reveal to us where they're hiding Rev."

"You listen to _Duck_? You propose that we just sit around here and wait? Rev could be lying, destitute somewhere!" Tech yelled out, unable to contain himself sensibly.

"I'm sorry, Tech, but we're not searching until tomorrow. That's final. Duck _is_ right and you know it. This kind of stuff does happen to us a lot. If they have Rev then they want something from us and they won't harm Rev," Ace said adamantly.

"Remember, Rev can take care of himself, too, Tech," Lexi added.

"I know he can, but I bet if this was _Ace_ that was kidnapped instead, everybody would be flipping shit!"

"_Tech_, that's inappropriate!" Ace bellowed, slamming his fist on the dinning room table, where they had gathered around.

"This is all bullshit! You all have done nothing, but make excuses to give no effort in finding Rev!" Tech angrily retorted, spinning around. He stormed off to his laboratory.

Cassidy took a step toward her mentor, but Duck caught her by the wrist. "Don't, let him be. He needs to cool off," he warned.

"No! Let go! I'm going to him!" Cassidy fazed her wrist through Duck's grasp and continued after Tech without looking back.

The words themselves cut Duck like a knife through his stomach. He leaned back on the table to support himself. Inwardly, he simply felt crushed by the words. On the outside, his expression hardened to jealousy.

Ace, dismissing the rebellious teenager and Duck's jealous reaction, slumped back in his chair. He heaved a sigh and softened his features. He couldn't keep up the tough leader act for very long, Lexi and Duck knew that.

"What are we gonna do?" Ace grunted.

"Rest up, Ace. Do you need to go to the infirmary? You don't look too well. You did go through a _lot_ just a week ago," Lexi said, immensely concerned.

"This is _my_ fault. We never cleared the scene. Virgo is still out there because of my foolishness, and now Rev paid the price for it," Ace sighed again. He closed his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, allowing his head to fall back.

"There's nothing to worry about. Knowing how big Virgo's ego is, he's probably thinking of some diabolical plan as we speak. Sooner or later he'll contact us, blah, blah, blah, and tell us where to find Rev and we'll be ambushed and then thwart all his plans," Duck predicted accurately.

"You're completely right, Duck!" Lexi agreed enthusiastically. Duck was a bit surprised.

"_Yes_, he is right, but you could also be dead wrong, Duck. Virgo isn't like most villains we've been dealing with. He's different, he's looking to use and kill. Rev is in trouble, Tech had every right to go off on me. I would rather have just one of us kidnapped than sacrifice more to find just one teammate, ya know? We should wait for any clues to come up."

Lexi nodded obediently, mindlessly agreeing to his authority. Duck wished to speak out defiantly against his leader, but possessed no energy to do so. For some odd reason, he was drained. Even so, he could not bring himself to agree with Ace's decision. He would rather play the waiting game than to prolong their arduous search efforts? It made no sense to him.

Duck soundlessly excused himself from the room, leaving the rabbits alone.

Green Triangle.

Tech locked the doors behind him to his lab, but he still heard footsteps following him to his table. He instantly knew it was Cassidy. Knowing the feline was behind him, he sat at their usual tutoring table, their small, intimate classroom area where he schooled her in all subjects.

Cassidy pulled her chair up closer to her professor and then sat down. "Hey, Tech," she said softly. "I kind of wish I had the cookies again."

The coyote smiled at her reference. "It's fine. The fact that you chased me down is enough to suffice me. You're a good girl. Don't change for anyone."

Cassidy had a suspicious feeling that Tech was talking about Duck, but those thoughts faded. "Are you going to be all right, Techie?"

He cracked a half crooked grin. "Yeah, now that you're here." Tech buried his face with one hand and with the other, held on to Cassidy's hand.

"I'll always be here. We'll find Rev, and he'll be safe," she replied sweetly.

"Thanks, maybe I should get some rest. I'm really stressed out," Tech rose to his feet.

Cassidy stood up, surprising her mentor with a sudden embrace. Tech looked down, taken aback, but slowly embraced Cassidy as well, running his fingers through her soft hair unconsciously.

"You mean so much to me. I would probably go crazier if anything happen to you, Cassidy."


	11. Hostage

**Bunnyloverforever: Thank for you all the great reviews! It's been kind of tough to get back to the storyline, but I hope you all like what I've been able to pull together. I just have a lot going on in my life right now. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the Loonatics Unleashed.**

Chapter 11: The Hostage

"Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Duck's voice tightened in anger and jealousy. It was forbidden for the mallard and the feline to spend any alone time together, but nothing was wrong for her to spend time with Tech? The fact quickly frustrated him. He loathed the intimate hug they shared.

Cassidy and Tech instantly separated upon hearing Duck's voice, but they never heard his footsteps coming in. Their faces temporarily flushed red. Tech looked back at Duck remorsefully. He knew how much the mallard hated that it was nearly impossible for him to spend time with Cassidy alone. Finally, he sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Look, it was nothing. Don't worry." Tech assured, breaking the awkward silence. He folded his arms.

"I'm not worried, I'm more angry than anything."

"Why?"

"I hate how I can't spend time with Cassidy alone, but it's perfectly fine for you two to do whatever you want."

"D-Duck, stop! We just hugged, that was it. Why are you so upset?" Cassidy apologetically approached Duck. She didn't know he had a jealous side to him.

Duck looked at Cassidy with a death glare she didn't know he was capable of. He then continued to stare back at Tech hatefully.

"Okay, the only thing we should be worried about right now is finding Rev!" Tech declared heatedly with a low growl resonating in his throat.

"You should keep telling yourself that," Duck retorted.

"This is so ridiculous! Why are you so mad?" Cassidy said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, next time I just won't care." Duck replied to her, coldly turning away and quacking out of the laboratory.

"Whoa, what was that supposed to mean?" Cassidy asked, turning back to Tech.

"I really have no clue. I'm sure Duck's a little emotional right now because of Rev's disappearance and everything that happened the past few weeks."

"I hope so. That was so weird. I hope he's not too angry with me."

"He was angrier with me. I'm sure if you check up on him in an hour or so he will be fine."

"Okay…" Cassidy replied sadly, walking away and fazing through Tech's laboratory doors.

"That still really annoys me how she can just do that…" Tech said to no one in particular.

Yellow Triangle.

"Anything on Rev?" Duck inquired of Lexi and Ace, who were sitting at the gathering table.

"We just told Zadavia what had happened. She said she was on it," Lexi replied.

"Funny how Rev can find anyone in the world with his internal GPS, but when it's the other way around, it seems hopeless. We got nothing. How's Tech? You went to check up on him, right?" Ace said.

"Oh – yeah, he's doing all right. He was talking to Cassidy, so I just left."

"Okay, that's fine." Ace heaved a sigh.

The careless replied ticked off Duck to no end, but he displayed no visceral reaction to the words.

"Don't get too stressed out, Ace." Lexi said soothingly. "We'll find him."

"Maybe Tech is right; we should keep looking or at least split up."

"At this point if we believe Rev's been kidnapped, then someone should contact us soon, right?" Duck mentioned again.

"Yeah, right…" Ace said, burying his face in his hands. "I wish we realized this sooner rather than later."

Suddenly, it was the moment the Loonatics had all been waiting anxiously for. In the center of their circular meeting table, a holographic figure appeared where Zadavia would. It was a tall, dark feline figure. Its red, glowing eyes were the most daunting of his features.

"We got a surprise…" Ace whispered.

"Hello, Loonatics – well, most of you." Virgo corrected himself when he only saw three members.

"Virgo? Is that _you_?" Tech had suddenly joined the group. Cassidy followed closely behind him.

"Why, hello there, Techie. It's been a while."

The low, evil voice gave chills to the coyote. Cassidy, on the other hand, was surprised and grateful that at least her brother had survived the explosion. It was difficult for her to hide her sense of relief. Duck could see right through her.

"Don't you dare call me that! Where's Rev?" Tech yelled back.

"He's tied up right now. And Ace, don't bother trying to find my location. You won't. I'm underground, that's why you can't find me." Virgo stated, followed by an evil cackle.

Ace slammed his fist on the table and rolled his eyes out of frustration.

"Virgo, what's the meaning of all of this?! Please, just stop everything! You're lucky to be alive!" Cassidy finally spoke out. She looked at Tech, who gave her a death look that outmatched Duck's earlier one.

"Cassidy? I don't know, I can't – _I do know_!" For a moment, Virgo's eyes turned a normal white, but then returned to its menacing shade of red.

Cassidy gasped, taking a step back out of shock. For just a few seconds, she heard her brother's real voice. It had been so long, it sent her head whirling into several different emotions. Duck held her up by her shoulders before she could fall to her knees. Her mouthed moved, but no sound came out. Tears popped from her blue eyes.

"I'm working under your old nemesis, Tech. You can find Rev tomorrow in an old, empty loft in the central of Acmetropolis. My job is to simply get rid of you – Loonatics! Yes, there is a trap and by the time you find out, it'll be too late!"

The holographic figured disappeared.

"Ugh, we barely got anything out of him! What's wrong with Rev, how is he doing? What's the trap supposed to be? How will we prepare ourselves?" Tech queried frantically, he paced around the room, gritting his teeth in rage.

"Calm down, this was a lot to take in all at once!" Lexi said loudly, in order to talk over Cassidy's muffled sobs and Tech's loud footsteps.

"She's right, please, calm down, Tech," Ace repeated, rising from his seat.

Tech walked back to the table and took a deep breath. There were many different ways he could have replied nastily towards his leader, but he decided against it. It momentarily crossed his mind to pin the blame on Cassidy. He wanted to say that everything had happened to them because of her advent to the team, but that would not be right either.

Cassidy shrugged off Duck's support and stood by herself. She crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. She bit her tongue and held her breath to hold in her sobs. Duck noticed her behavior, but felt useless.

"Are we all calmed down now? We just gotta think of a plan and be ready for tomorrow. I'll search up lofts first thing tonight. Lexi and Slam will guard the perimeter while the four of us go inside and try and find Rev. That way, we'll be ready for any traps."

"That sounds fine to me," Lexi agreed.

"Okay, good," Ace replied. "Now, I'm sorry to do this, but Cassidy, I'd like you to be the first on in the loft. You should use your invisibility and fazing powers to check out the loft and find the traps."

"You're using her as bait?" Duck said in exasperation, clearly in disbelief.

"No, but I think it would be a good idea if she's first. She can examine the area without being caught," Ace tried to explain himself. He didn't want to come off as careless.

"Its fine, I understand." Cassidy's voice cracked. She continued to hold in her breath to avoid sobbing out loud.

"It makes sense." Tech added, callously.

Duck glared back at him for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. Ace noticed the discord amongst the group.

"Did something happen I don't know about?" he asked, almost feebly.

"No." Tech and Duck replied in unison, coincidentally.

"Gee…" Ace wiped his face with his hand out of desperation. He was completely stressed out.

"We have to get along. Our plan won't work if we're fighting," said Lexi, confused.

"Then give us some time alone. I need to talk to Cassidy, if that's okay with _all_ of you," Duck said, wrapping his arm around her, concerned.

Ace bit his tongue. "Its fine, but just this one time."

Orange Triangle.

Duck led Cassidy to her bedroom. It was no surprise to him to find almost ever accessory and design pink. It was like a little kid's room, like someone who didn't want to grow up. It partly worried the mallard.

"Are you going to be all right? I just brought you here so you could rest," Duck finally spoke.

"I'm okay now," she said clearly.

"Good."

"Please, talk to me. Why were you upset earlier?"

"I got jealous. That's it." Duck explained, simply, shrugging his shoulders.

Cassidy paused, but then broke out in the cutest giggle Duck had ever heard.

"That's it? Well, I guess I could have guessed that. You got jealous over a hug? Don't you trust me? And we aren't technically dating yet, so…" Cassidy trailed off playfully. She sat down at the side of her bed.

Duck sat down next to her. "That means pretty much nothing to me! You're mine and I've already told you that. And I _do_ trust you, I overreacted, okay?" Duck explained, trying to act coolly. "I won't like anyone else hugging you if I can't even lay a hand on you without getting chastised later for it."

"I understand your anger. I'm really sorry this is how things are supposed to be until I turn eighteen." Cassidy responded, gloomily.

"We'll be okay, as long as we have each other, right?" Duck smiled, holding her hand in his.

"Right!" Cassidy smiled back at him. She embraced him, tightly.

"I love you, and this won't be a problem for us for much longer."


End file.
